Fine to follow-on? Private anti-trust actions in European law

Abstract

If an undertaking infringes European or national competition law, the infringers must reckon with a large range of possible sanctions, of both a public law and a private law nature. Regarding the latter, we take note in this paper of anti-trust actions for damages by private claimants, which have become ever more significant in the anti-trust debate. Against a background of divergent developments in the European Member States, the European legislator has adopted Directive 2014/104/ EU (Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union Text with EEA relevance, OJ 2014 L 349, 1 ff (DADA)), with the aim of facilitating the full compensation of damage suffered by those affected by violations of European or national competition law, and to coordinate public and private enforcement measures. The Member States must implement this Directive into their national systems. This paper gives an overview of the Directive, analyses its most important provisions, and then discusses the international issues raised in cases concerning cross-border anti-competitive activities. This article is based on a presentation given at the 3rd China-EU Legal Forum (CELF) which took place at the Supreme Court of Cassation in Rome on 8./9.9.2015. The 3rd CELF was