Damages Actions Against Digital Gatekeepers for Breaches of EU Antitrust Law and the DMA: A German Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines actions for damages against digital gatekeepers for breach of EU antitrust law or the Digital Markets Act (DMA) from a German perspective. It provides insights into private antitrust litigation against digital gatekeepers before German courts. While the pending damages actions are still at an early stage, a number of injunction actions have been decided, providing some insight into the effectiveness of private antitrust enforcement against digital gatekeepers. The role of damages actions as an instrument of corrective justice and of enforcement in the context of DMA infringements is discussed. The conceptual choice to include DMA infringements in the German antitrust damages law is considered in the light of the EU principles of effectiveness and equivalence.

Keywords: damages actions, injunction actions, antitrust law, digital gatekeepers, digital platforms

JEL Classification: K21, K23, K41, K42