João Cardoso Pereira is an economist with nearly two decades of experience in antitrust matters in Europe. Based in Lisbon, he advises clients on complex competition issues arising in antitrust, merger and litigation proceedings before the European Commission (EC), national competition authorities and courts.
Before joining BRG, Mr. Cardoso Pereira gained extensive experience at the EC’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) and Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC). He worked on high-profile antitrust investigations across sectors including digital, telecommunications, media, sports, energy, financial services, postal and building materials. Through his participation in ECN working groups, he contributed to the revision of the EC guidelines on abuse of dominance, market definition, horizontal cooperation agreements and vertical restraints.
Mr Cardoso Pereira has substantial experience supporting litigation and court proceedings involving complex competition issues. Throughout his career, he has provided expert economic testimony before Portuguese courts in matters involving banking, energy, postal services, labour markets and sports. He has also contributed to the defence of competition authority decisions before the Court of Justice of the European Union in cases addressing standalone information exchanges and labour market agreements which resulted in landmark rulings that contributed to the development of European competition law.
Mr. Cardoso Pereira served as coordinator of Economic Analysis at the AdC, where he oversaw economic analysis conducted by the Restrictive Practices department and led a multidisciplinary team responsible for abuse of dominance investigations. He played a central role in strengthening the use of economic evidence in competition enforcement and developed the ex officio strategy for abuse of dominance cases.
Mr. Cardoso Pereira also founded the AdC’s Digital Task Force, helping establish the AdC as a leading voice on competition issues arising in digital markets, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic collusion. He led and supported investigations involving online platforms, digital ecosystems and emerging technologies while contributing to research and policy discussions on the competitive implications of generative AI and other digital developments.
Mr. Cardoso Pereira speaks regularly at international conferences on competition policy and economics. Since 2023, he has served as a guest lecturer at the Academy of European Law (ERA), where he teaches on competition policy issues arising in the digital economy. He has also provided training to competition authorities, regulators and policymakers in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Lusophone Competition Network.
Mr. Cardoso Pereira holds a master’s degree in European economic studies and a specialisation in European law and economic analysis from the College of Europe. He also holds degrees in economics and business administration from the Catholic University of Portugal. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.