Joana Pires Araújo
Lawyer and Consultant in European Affairs
Law Degree, University of Coimbra Faculty of Law
Master of Law in European Legal Studies, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium
Languages: Portuguese (MT), English, French, Spanish
Worked as a legal assistant on the Cabinet of the Secretary of State of the Environment providing legal advice regarding national environmental issues, such as nature tourism, the European Mobility Week initiative, Cities for Climate Protection and Congestion Charges systems, as well as the transposition of EU Directives and Environmental impact assessment. Joana also collaborated with the Office of the Minister of the Environment.
Worked as a trainee in the European Commission, gaining practical experience of EU policies and missions, rules, procedures and activities of the Commission, especially in the area of the application of the principle of the free movement of goods in terms of Articles 28-30 of the EC Treaty.
Joined Vieira de Almeida & Associados in 2009, as a trainee lawyer, developing most of her work in the Competition & EU Law practice group. In such capacity she was involved in some of the most relevant transactions in Portugal, namely related to the application of competition rules in Portugal and to the implementation and follow-up of competition compliance programs designed to avoid the risk of violation of the applicable legislation. Joana also provided legal advice – involving litigation and non-litigation issues – on a number of matters relevant to the business activity namely agreements between undertakings that are restrictive of competition, abuses of a dominant position and mergers. Regarding EU law, Joana also carried legal analysis covering institutional matters as well as procedural issues relating to the free movement of goods and entities.
More recently, Joana worked in the cabinet of a Member of the European Parliament, delivering legal advice regarding legislative proposals from the European Commission on Competition Law, Banking and Finance and gained another valuable insight into the activities of the European Parliament, by developing and maintaining relations with other staff in the European Parliament, representatives from EU institutions, think tanks, NGOs, business organizations and others.
Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association.