The activity of Morais Leitão lawyers precedes Portugal’s accession to the European Community in 1986. Since then we have represented public entities and national and foreign companies in their relations with the institutions of the European Union and in the defence of their interests when litigating the European courts, consolidating widely recognised expertise in the principal areas of European law.
Morais Leitão has a wealth of experience in advising and representing public entities and companies in the application of the principles and rules of the European internal market (namely the free movement of goods, the free provision of services, the right of establishment and the free movement of capital).
We accompany public entities in the application of the European Union’s policies for regional development and for agriculture and in the execution of European rules in these areas, including the representation of those entities in litigation before European courts. We also provide legal assistance to companies and other private entities as regards support financed by European funds, both before European and national institutions and before Community courts.
Our team’s breadth of experience in the field of European litigation includes the representation of public entities, companies, associations of companies and individual persons in complex processes, amongst which are included: non-compliance processes brought by the Portuguese State; actions for annulment against decisions of the European Commission and other acts of European institutions in multiple fields; prejudicial referrals to the European Communities Court of Justice within the scope of national legal procedures, when the question of the interpretation or validity of the rules of European law is raised; and appeals of omission due to improper inaction of European institutions.