Private enforcement of competition law: its role and development in the EU

Chapter 1 examines the role that private actions for damages play in the enforcement of EU competition law. After reviewing the position in the US, where private litigation has played an important role from the earliest days of antitrust enforcement, the chapter traces the evolution of damages claims under EU law in the jurisprudence in the Court of Justice: in recent years the Court has decisively moved the needle towards ever-greater emphasis on the importance of private enforcement. The chapter then discusses the background to the EU Damages Directive and its main provisions. There is no doubt that the Directive has led to an increase in the amount of competition law litigation in the national courts of EU Member States. The chapter then turns to consider the role of collective redress in the private enforcement of competition law; the availability of opt-out collective proceedings has been a catalyst for competition law litigation in the UK. The chapter concludes with a discussion of several miscellaneous factors relevant to the success or otherwise of damages claims in the EU.