Jean-Michel Communier

As a senior European Counsel in our Public Law Group based in Lyon, I have extensive experience advising on public law matters, specialising in local authority projects and public litigation.

My particular area of expertise is in public litigation and transactions between public entities and private companies, often at the French and European level and also in African countries.

Recently I have been working with Mauritanians and Togolese authorities in the West African Regional Communications Infrastructure Program. I negotiated contracts for the development of electronic communications and for the improvement of their postal services. Furthermore, I advise financial institutions and large corporations in relation to the structuring and negotiation of complex public contracts and international projects (with the World Bank and African states for instance).

On the field of transportation, I collaborated inside the European Commission consortium Single European Sky (harmonization of the Civil Aviation at the European level) and I assisted different airports with all their questions about the regulation as well as public procurement.

I joined Bird & Bird's Paris office as an associate in 1999 and was appointed European Counsel in 2001. Before joining Bird & Bird, I gained extensive professional experience in the Competition Law team at an independent French business law firm, and in public law and litigation at another French firm.

Since 1990, I have been a lecturer at University of Paris Saclay where I teach Public Law (administrative law, budgetary law, tax law and public economic law) as well as European Law (internal market law, European competition law and customs law).

• Assisting the termination of a PPP and for the awarding of a public service delegation agreement for the roll-out of a very-speed optic fibre network
• Definition and implementation of regulation and interconnection tools for optical fiber sharing
• Harmonization of national public procurement law with UEMOA directives
• Public contracts of National defence (public procurement and PPP)