Antitrust
Actions for Damages
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Commissioner Neelie Kroes:
"Businesses and consumers in Europe lose billions of euros each and every year as a result of companies breaking EU antitrust rules. These people have a right to compensation through an effective system that complements public enforcement, whilst avoiding excessive burdens and abuses. Our White Paper is presenting concrete measures to help ensure that this right becomes a reality, and not just a theory." |
News:
The Commission has published an invitation to tender for the provision of a study on the quantification of harm suffered by victims of competition law infringements.
White Paper on compensating consumer and business victims of breaches of the competition rules
On 3 April 2008, the Commission published for public consultation a White Paper and a Commission Staff Working Paper on Damages Actions for Breach of the EC antitrust rules. The White Paper suggests specific policy choices and measures that would help give all victims of infringements of EC competition law access to effective redress mechanisms so that they can be fully compensated for the harm they suffered. The White Paper is based on an impact assessment.
Comments to the White Paper could be submitted until the 15th July 2008. The submissions received by the Commission are available here.
Green Paper
On 19 December 2005, the Commission published for public consultation a Green Paper and a Commission staff working paper on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules. The purpose of the Green Paper was to stimulate debate and elicit feedback from stakeholders on a number of possible options which could facilitate private damages actions. The consultation to the public was open until 21st April 2006, and the comments received by the Commission are available here.
Background
Vigorous competition in an open internal market provides the best guarantee that European companies will increase their productivity and innovative potential. Competition law enforcement is therefore a key element of the "Lisbon strategy" which aims at making the economy of the European Union grow and create employment for Europe’s citizens.
Facilitating damages claims for breaches of the antitrust rules will not only strengthen the enforcement of competition law, but will also make it easier for consumers and firms who have suffered damage from an infringement of competition law rules to recover their losses from the infringer.
The Commission is therefore looking at the conditions under which private parties can bring actions for damages before the national courts of the Member States for breach of the Community antitrust rules.
In the majority of Member States actions for damages for the infringement of EC and national competition law have been extremely limited. In Europe, competition law is mostly enforced by competition agencies, subject to review by the courts. Awards for damages by national courts at the initiative of private parties are much less common.
Key documents
Here you can find a compilation of the various documents published by the Commission (White Paper, Green Paper, accompanying documents) as well as a number of important judicial decisions and speeches and articles.
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