Antitrust
Actions for Damages
According to the European Court of Justice, any citizen or business who suffers harm as a result of a breach of the EU antitrust rules (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU) should be able to obtain reparation from the party who caused the harm. However, despite this requirement under European law to establish an effective legal framework enabling victims to exercise their right to compensation, victims of EU antitrust infringements have to date only rarely obtained reparation for the harm suffered. The amount of compensation that these victims are foregoing is in the range of several billion Euros a year.
The absence of an effective legal framework for antitrust damages actions also hampers the full enforcement of the antitrust rules and thus has a negative bearing on vigorous competition in an open internal market. The current ineffectiveness of antitrust damages actions is best addressed by a combination of measures at both EU and national level. These measures should achieve effective minimum protection of the victims’ right to damages under Articles 101 and 102 in every Member State, create a more level playing field and provide greater legal certainty across the EU. Therefore, the Commission has taken a number steps since 2004 to stimulate the debate on that topic and elicit feedback from stakeholders on a number of possible options which could facilitate antitrust damages actions. Based on the outcomes of several public consultations, the Commission has suggested specific policy choices and measures in a White Paper.
White Paper and Green Paper on antitrust damages actions
In 2008, the Commission published a White Paper on Damages Actions for Breach of the EC antitrust rules. The White Paper suggests specific policy options and measures that would help giving all victims of EU antitrust infringements access to effective redress mechanisms so that they can be fully compensated for the harm they suffered.
The White Paper was preceded by a Green Paper, published in 2005.
 Quantification of harm caused by infringements of the EU antitrust rules
The success of antitrust damages actions and full compensation of victims rests not only upon the existence of an effective legal framework for compensation, but also on overcoming complex issues related to quantification of harm suffered by those victims. To assist national courts and parties involved in antitrust damages actions, in its 2008 White Paper, the Commission announced its intention to draw up pragmatic and non-binding guidance for the quantification of harm in antitrust damages actions. Such guidance could include economic insights into the harm caused by anticompetitive practices and information on methods commonly used to quantify such harm.
As part of the groundwork for preparing the guidance, the Commission has commissioned an external study on the quantification of harm suffered by victims of antitrust infringements. The study has been prepared by a group of economic consultants and lawyers.
Key documents
Click here to find the various documents published by the Commission (White Paper, Green Paper, accompanying documents, external studies, and comments received from institutions and stakeholders) as well as a number of speeches and articles on the topic.
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