Dr. Michael Gayger
Partner / Cologne, Hamburg
German, English
About Michael Gayger
Michael advises German and international companies on all regulatory matters. Michael’s work focuses on the infrastructure, transport and environmental sector. Michael is an expert in matters relating to public funding and state aid, administrative law as well as environmental law and waste regulations. Furthermore, Michael is regularly active in product law advice, including (environmental) product compliance, product admissions and product recalls.
Michael represents German and international companies as well as public bodies in court litigation and administrative procedures, both on German and on European level. Moreover, Michael regularly advises on regulatory matters in the context of M&A transactions.
Michael studied law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg and at Columbia University in New York/USA. During his legal education, Michael worked for the Directorate-General for Competition at the EU Commission in Brussels/Belgium and for an institute promoting the rule of law in Bangkok/Thailand. In 2015, Michael received a doctoral degree in law from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg for a thesis assessing the impact of the European state aid rules on the financing of infrastructures.
Before joining avocado rechtsanwälte in 2021, Michael worked as a lawyer for an in international law firm in Cologne in the Public Commercial / Regulatory department for several years.
Michael is a lecturer for European state aid law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg and regularly invited as a speaker on current regulatory topics. Michael has also published numerous papers in his field of practice.
Named to the 2025 list of “Ones to Watch” by The Best Lawyers in Germany for Public Law / Regulatory Practice.
Activity
- Public commercial law
- State aid law
- Anti-Trust law
- European law
- Product law
- Waste management law
Publications
Gayger, Michael: Mitautor in: Ehring/Taeger, Produkthaftungs- und Produktsicherheitsrecht, NomosKommentar, §§ 3 – 5, 8, 25 Produktsicherheitsgesetz, Art. 10 – 24 Marktüberwachungs-VO, §§ 4 – 11 Marktüberwachungsgesetz
Gayger, Michael: Vergaberechtsverstoß des Empfängers führt nicht notwendig zur Rückforderung einer Zuwendung!, Anm. zu VG Köln, Beschl. v. 4.2.2021, 16 K 1940/18, VergabeFokus, Ausgabe 6/2021, S. 17 ff.
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Staatshaftung für Mieter und Vermieter aufgrund staatlichen Infektionsschutzes?, in: Zehelein, Miete in Zeiten von Corona, 2. Auflage 2021, S. 195
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Flexibilität in der EU-Beihilfenkontrolle – Staatliche Rettung für Unternehmen in der COVID-19-Pandemie, Behörden Spiegel, April 2020, S. 20
Gayger, Michael u.a.: COVID-19 – Hoheitliche Befugnisse, Rechte Betroffener und staatliche Hilfen, NVwZ 2020, S. 417
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Sichere Produkte ohne technische Normen, NVwZ 2019, S. 1491
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Kein Akteneinsichtsrecht des Beihilfenempfängers?, EuZW 2019, S. 669
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Vertrackte Verpackungen - Erste Erfahrungen aus dem neuen Verpackungsgesetz, FAZ v. 27. Februar 2019
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Die Rekommunalisierung in der Beihilfenrechtsfalle?, NVwZ 2018, S. 273
Gayger, Michael u.a.: In der Falle des Beihilfenrechts, NJW-aktuell 12/2018, S. 17
Gayger, Michael u.a.: Fallstricke bei der Rekommunalisierung, PLATOW Recht, 31. Mai 2017, Nr. 62, S. 8
Gayger, Michael: Infrastructure Funding at the Interface between the EU State Aid Rules and Member States’ General Economic Policy, European State Aid Law Quarterly 2016, S. 539
Gayger, Michael: Infrastrukturförderung zwischen EU-Beihilfenrecht und mitgliedstaatlicher Wirtschaftspolitik, Verlag Duncker & Humblot, 2016