Commission Proposal for Antitrust Damages Directive – Ends and Means of Harmonised Rules

Filip Kubík

On 11 June 2013 the European Commission adopted a "Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 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." This talk will elaborate on the objectives, the means and on the context of the proposal and will provide an outlook of the Proposal in terms of the Union legislative procedure and the implementation in Member States.

As to the objectives of the Proposal, the following questions will be discussed: How should it be ensured that the existing Union right to full compensation for antitrust harm can be enforced in practice in civil courts of all Member States? How could the overall effectiveness of antitrust enforcement across the Union be strengthened? What are the respective roles of public and private enforcement? How could the interplay of (follow-on) private damages actions with public enforcement proceedings of the Commission and national competition authorities be best regulated? How could the effectiveness of leniency programmes be safeguarded? Presenting the means, this talk will focus on the rules on disclosure of evidence, passing-on of overcharges, joint and several liability, the quantification of harm and on the settlements. Last, but not least, the context of the Proposal will be described, namely: Union and national case law, legislative developments in Member States, Commission Recommendation on collective redress.