European Union
7/25/2008 5:34:09 PM EST
The Commission's White Paper on Damages Actions for Breach of the EC Antitrust Rules in the Light of the ECJ's Manfredi Judgment
Lawyer, Kemmler Rapp Böhlke
On 2 April 2008, the European Commission published its long awaited White Paper on damages actions for breach of EC antitrust rules. The Commission's document confirms the approach taken earlier by the Commission and the European Court of Justice in, inter alia, the Manfredi judgment, to the effect that private parties are intended to play a vital role in the enforcement of European competition law. It is already clear that the process, which has been accelerated by the White Paper, will have a tremendous impact on national practice in damages actions. Robin van der Hout, a lawyer at KRB Kemmler Rapp Böhlke, analyzes the effects of the White Paper and the ECJ's decisions.
Excerpt:
The Starting Point: Green Paper on Damages Actions for Breach of the EC Antitrust
Rules
The Commission’s Green Paper of 20 December 2005 (COM(2005)672,[]) has already placed the question of antitrust damages on the practitioner’s agenda. The intended facilitation of damages actions for infringement of antitrust law serves a twofold purpose: (i) compensation of victims; and (ii) additional incentive for undertakings to respect EC competition rules. Damages claims are not only meant to toughen the finding of an infringement by the competition authorities but are also understood as an autonomous means of enforcement, whereby private parties further the enforcement of EC competition rules.
The new Cartel Regulation 1/2003 (OJ 2003 L 1/1, []) started out to foster the private enforcement of competition law by determining the Commission’s joint responsibility with National Competition Authorities (NCAs) to enforce competition rules and provide tools to achieve the objective of an increased and coherent enforcement of the rules concerning public enforcement (through the provisions relating to the European Competition Network (ECN)) and concerning private enforcement (through the rules enabling the national courts to apply fully Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty).
The Green Paper and subsequently the White Paper (COM(2008)165, []) address several hurdles for private parties to lodge damages claims in antitrust cases.
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