Private enforcement

Anticompetitive agreements, Confidentiality, Damages, Portugal, Private actions, Private enforcement

(Sousa Ferro & Asociados)/ /1 Comment

Introduction On February 21, 2020, the European Commission (EC), in the context of Case AT.40528 – Holiday Pricing, ordered Meliá Hotels International, S.A. to pay a fine in the total amount of EUR 6 678 000. The European Commission found that Meliá Hotels International, S.A. participated in a single and continuous infringement of Article 101…

Collective Redress, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Private enforcement

(University of Vienna, Austria) and (University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act has been analysed from a myriad of prisms, both from the public and private enforcement perspectives. However, less attention has been dedicated to analysing the actual content of private enforcement via collective actions, as set out explicitly in Articles 42 and 52 of the DMA. Article 42 DMA establishes that “Directive…

Collective Redress, Conference, Damages, Digital, National court, Private actions, Private enforcement

(Max Planck Institute for Competition and Innovation)/ /Leave a comment

On November 3rd 2023, the University of Vienna, Department of European, International and Comparative Law, together with the European Circle for Competition Damages and the Austrian Society for European Law (ÖGER) hosted a conference on the relevant issue of disclosing evidence in antitrust damages proceedings. Roughly ten years after the European Damages Directive had been…

Abuse of dominance, Damages, National court, Portugal, Private actions, Private enforcement, Regulation

(Universidade do Porto)/ /1 Comment

On September 25th the Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL) upheld the essence of a 2022 ruling by the Portuguese Competition Court, which in turn had already upheld the 2019 decision of the Portuguese Competition Authority (PCAC) in the EDP case, condemning it to a fine of €40 million – the largest fine ever imposed in…

Abuse of dominance, Czech Republic, Damages, European Court of Justice, National court, Private actions, Private enforcement

, (Skils)/ /Leave a comment

Summary of Facts On 21 September 2023 the Advocate General Juliane Kokott presented her opinion in the Case C-605/21, Heureka Group a.s. v. Google LLC. The opinion addresses a request for a preliminary ruling from the Prague Municipal Court, which is hearing Heureka’s follow-on action against Google based on the Commission’s Decision C(2017) 4444 final…

Cartels, Germany, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court, Private enforcement

(Clifford Chance)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction In the latest Judgement by the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) regarding Section 33g of the Act against Restraints of Competition (“ARC”) in BGH, Urt. v. 4.4.2023, KZR 20/21 – Vertriebskooperation im Schienenpersonennahverkehr (“Judgement”), which was added by the 9th Amendment of the ARC in 2017 and revised by the 10th Amendment of…

Collective Redress, Damages, Enforcement, Private enforcement

, (CDC Cartel Damage Claims Consulting)/ /Leave a comment

The Regional Court of Dortmund has asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling on the access of cartel victims to the so-called ‘assignment model’ (see here). Private enforcement of EU competition law is essentially driven by damage actions that bundle claims assigned by a multitude of victims to…

Litigation, Private actions, Private enforcement, United Kingdom

(Del Canto Chambers, Litigo Partners)/ /Leave a comment

With a much-unanticipated outcome, on 26 July 2023, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSC) finally handed down its long-expected judgement in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28, a decision that is considered to have a significant hit on the litigation funding…

Germany, National competition authorities (NCAs), Private enforcement, Sector inquiries

, , , (Morrison Foerster)/ /Leave a comment

On July 6, 2023, the German parliament adopted the “Competition Enforcement Act.” The new law still lacks final approval by the Bundesrat, which will not be granted before the end of September, but this is only a formality. It marks the 11th amendment to the Act against Restraints on Competition (ARC11), Germany’s national antitrust law….

Anticompetitive agreements, Cartels, Competition enforcement, Damages, Economics, Estimation, Evidence, National court, Private enforcement, Spain

(IE Law School)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Three weeks ago, the Spanish Supreme Court delivered its first rulings on damages claims in the trucks cartel. Given that Spanish courts have been the most active in the EU on this case (see the stream of judgments issued by the Courts of Appeal in Figure 1, 85% are available at CENDOJ), there was…