EC publishes White Paper on damages: an effective system of antitrust litigation?

On 3 April 2008, the European Commission (EC) published its White Paper on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules. The proposed reforms seek to ensure that victims of anti-competitive behaviour in all Member States of the EU are able to claim "full compensation" before their national courts.

The Commission is keen to foster a European competition culture and it wishes to avoid what it perceives as the excesses of American-style litigation. It therefore seeks to preserve the effectiveness of enforcement by competition authorities, while ensuring antitrust litigation is a robust complement to public enforcement. In many Member States, it remains practically impossible for many victims to enforce their antitrust rights before the courts.

Our antitrust experts have put together a brief analysis of the Commission's proposals.