Of Arms and Armour - The European Commission's White Paper on Damages Actions for Breach of EC Antitrust Law

Abstract

In April 2008 the European Commission published a White Paper on Damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules and an accompanying Commission Staff Working Paper. The White Paper's primary objective is to improve the legal conditions for victims of violations of the EC antitrust rules to exercise their right under the EC Treaty to reparation of all damage suffered as a result of such a violation. The author analyses both documents covering indirect purchaser standing, collective redress, access to evidence, binding effect of administrative decisions, fault as a prerequisite to civil liability, definition and quantification of damages, the passing-on of overcharges (passing-on defence), limitation periods, costs of actions and the interaction between leniency programmes and damages actions.

Keywords: Private Enforcement,Competition Law,cartel,white paper,Courage,directive,proposal,richtlinie,actions collectives,libro bianco,commission,risarcimento del danno,damages,passing on,schadevergoedingsacties,Kartellrecht,private Durchsetzung,Schadensersatzklagen,torpedo,Richtlinienvorschlag,Sammelklage

JEL Classification: K21, K40, K42, K10, K13, L40, L49, G18, G19