6 Civil Damages

Subject(s):

Cartels — Private actions — Quantifying harm

This chapter deals with private litigation. It begins with some discussion of the general issues surrounding private enforcement and an overview of the United States, where the level of private enforcement in cartel cases has historically far exceeded that of public cases. The chapter then provides a summary of the state of private enforcement in each of the EU's current twenty-eight Member States, before the EU Damages Directive was adopted. In this respect, it attempts to give a summary of national initiatives in the absence of an EU framework but excludes reforms made in response to, or in direct anticipation of, the EU Damages Directive. This background is important to understand the issues that shaped the Directive. Finally, the chapter discusses the thorny issue of damage estimation.