Many competition laws provide for claims regarding damages by those who have suffered injury from an infringement to the competition law. For example, those who have had to pay higher prices as a result of cartel violations, have the possibility to claim for damages, as restitution of the amounts for which they have been spoliated.
Source: UNCTAD
Over the last five years, mass litigation in the field of antitrust in Spain has rapidly increased. The so-called “Trucks Cartel Litigation” has generated thousands of judgements and dozens of referrals to the CJEU. These judgements and referrals have allowed national courts and the CJEU to clarify several legal questions, such as the temporal application…
On 10 November 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ or the Court) delivered its judgment in another private enforcement case, interpreting Art. 5 of Directive 2014/104/EU (the Damages Directive or the Directive). It answered the preliminary question raised by a Spanish First Instance Commercial Court that the disclosure of information or documents which do…
In the MOL (C-425/22) case, the Hungarian court requests a preliminary ruling on whether the concept of an economic unit can be applied on the applicant’s side. This would allow to establish the forum of jurisdiction at the registered office of the parent company in the sense of Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 (Brussels…
The collective private antitrust cases in the so-called timber cartel keep many German courts busy. At the beginning of the year, the Stuttgart Regional Court rejected any claims for cartel damages in a rather blunt manner [Link]. Now, the Regional Court of Dortmund has heard the case. As Dortmund is located in Germany’s Westfalia region,…
Two Germans meet in Graz to discuss private enforcement of competition law in the EU. Tune in for the first in-person interview of the competition edition of the International Law Talk Podcast. On a warm summer day in June, I interviewed Thomas Thiede on our favorite topic: private enforcement of competition law and its newest…
Recent posts on this blog (here) have already highlighted the role that the adoption of Directive 2014/104/EU (Damages Directive or Directive) and the European Commission’s (EC) decision in case AT.39824 – Trucks, amongst other events, have played as turning points in private enforcement of competition law in the EU. The Directive has led not only…
The following is a selection of some of the most important developments in German competition law and policy in 2021. It has been a busy year for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”), inter alia because the new rules for digital companies took effect. The following covers cases under these new rules, abuse of dominance, merger…
In any system, the competition regulator’s ability to investigate, sanction, and remedy competition grievances are directly dependent on the size of resources (financial, personal, and informational) that regulator has at their disposal. Competition regulators have been known to issue policies setting priority areas for competition law enforcement based on sectoral and severity criteria to overcome…
Advocate General Rantos delivered his Opinion in a request of a preliminary ruling by a Spanish court (case C-267/20), the Audiencia Provincial of León, the appellate court in a trucks’ cartel damages claim. In particular, Advocate General Rantos Opinion deals with the temporal scope of application of the Damages Directive; the “substantive” or “procedural” nature…
Europe’s leniency programs face a problem. Creating an incentive for private enforcement with the 2014 Damages Directive came at the expense of leniency applications all over the EU. A further balance of public and private enforcement will be necessary. Many approaches have been discussed. Recently, calls for exemptions or limitations of civil liability for leniency…
