8 Private Enforcement

Subject(s):

Cartels — European Union — Damages

The chapter focuses on the use of competition rules in private litigation to claim compensation for damages. It describes key issues that any private litigant will need to address when contemplating legal action. First, the chapter outlines who can sue and who can be sued, where and when to sue, and how to obtain the necessary information to assess and formulate a claim. The chapter then turns to the compensation that can be claimed and the related issues of causation (including the passing-on defence) and quantification of the damages. These topics are dealt with by Thomas De Meese (Crowell & Moring, Brussels) from the angle of the private practitioner. Eddy De Smijter (head of the Private Enforcement Unit, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission) focuses on two provisions of the Private Damages Actions Directive (access to evidence and joint and several liability) from the perspective of the public enforcer.