Let´s litigate
Christian Bulzomí
May 5, 2006
Private enforcement of competition law as a complement to public enforcement is growing in Europe and the Commission is looking for a feasible way to enhance its growth. The Ashurst report and the Green Book on damage claims testify the willingness of the Commission to take positive steps for the enhancement of private damage claims in this field of competition law, in order to permit competitors and consumers, who suffer loss from anticompetitive behaviours of undertakings, to find financial redress. The question has turned from “if” it could be done to “how” it should be done.
The Commission is trying to find out whether harmonization of remedies would be possible in this field and how far it could go. However, it has to be conscious that the reform might be useless if private litigants are not provided with favourable rules on standing and evidence. The Commission has the uneasy task to find a delicate balance between the public interest of an efficient enforcement system and the adoption of harmonized measures which would overhaul Member States’ judicial systems. The most important issues concern the feasibility of the harmonization of the rules on standing and evidence, the coordination of the leniency programs with the rules on evidence, the need for the introduction of double or treble damages, and even the legal basis for such drastic changes. The issues at stake are very sensitive but some courageous steps shall be taken in order to improve the deterrent effect competition law enforcement has on market participants. The texts of the Ashurst report and the Commission Green Paper are available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/actions_for_damages/study.html
http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/actions_for_damages/index_en.html
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