Civil Procedure In Eu Competition Cases Before The English And Dutch Courts

For decades it seemed clear that EC competition law was enforceable effectively at the national level, and ECJ case law has continued to bear this out. In recent years, however, the Commission has been proposing harmonization of national rules of procedure in competition cases, implying that procedural autonomy is insufficient on its own to produce an effective enforcement system in this area. As the authors of this book clearly demonstrate, this suggests a binary system governing the enforcement of EC Articles 81 and 82: namely, that led by the Commission through directives and eventual regulations, and that built on ECJ principles in areas not dealt with by such Community instruments. This book describes and analyzes not only the specific Commission recommendations, but also the manner and extent to which these recommendations are or may be implemented in civil procedure. In particular, the authors consider changes which may be required if these recommendations are incorporated into Dutch and English rules of civil procedure. Also addressed are elements of procedure not mentioned by the Commission but which might usefully be considered in the context of ECJ principles of effectiveness, equivalence and effective judicial protection of rights. At the heart of the study is a detailed analysis of the Commission White Paper on Damages Actions and the Commission Staff Working Paper, both issued early in 2009. The in-depth analysis ranges over procedural aspects of such elements as the following: and•standing; and•disclosure and access to evidence; and•burden of proof; and•fault/no fau and•costs of damages actions; and•injunctions; and•civil versus administrative enforcement; and•limitations; and•leniency programmes; and•collective actions; and•confidentiality; and and•forms of compensation. Anticipating as it does a looming impasse in European competition law, this remarkable book sheds defining light on the real implications of EC competition law for parties to damages actions, not only in the national systems studied but for all Member States. For practitioners and jurists it offers a particularly useful approach to the handling of cases involving European competition law, and also serves as a guide to current trends and as a clarification of doctrine.

EU Directive 2004/48 EC obliges Member States to seek to achieve 'partial harmonization' of the remedies, procedures and measures necessary to enforce intellectual property law. These obligations provide what may be termed a minimum standard which must be fulfilled by the Member States in the course of their implementation of the Directive. However, the Directive is not faring well at the Member State level. The three authors' vastly detailed, article-by-article analysis of the fortunes of Directive 2004/48 EC in three EU jurisdictions offers enormously valuable insights into the complex ways Member States respond to Community law, and in so doing provides an important addition to the ongoing inquiry into the nature of the reciprocal tensions between EU law (both judicial and legislative) and the laws of Member States. The particular investigation undertaken here reveals three paradigmatic situations: the situation in which the Directive has not been implemented at all, either because the Member State believes that its current legislation is adequate or that the wording of the Directive is such that no special legislation is required (England); the situation in which implementation has been inadequate, because either the pre-existing legislation constitutes inadequate legislation or because the specifically adopted legislation proves to be legally uncertain (The Netherlands); and the situation in which the relevant time for implementation for the Directive has elapsed and no specific legislation has been adopted (Germany). If there really is, as the European Commission contends, an 'enforcement deficit' in the protection of intellectual property rights by national rules of procedure, then the most effective remedial approach, Cummings shows, is through the principles of legal certainty, full effect, and effective judicial protection. These principles will assist the national court in interpretation of the precise meaning of the substantive obligations under the Directive. Drawing on the tenor of ECJ law that national procedural rules should not present an obstacle to adequate judicial protection, the author considers the conditions that must be fulfilled before an eventual claimant, who has suffered loss and damage caused by either the non-implementation or the incorrect implementation of a directive, may bring an action against the State for breach of Community law. The author presents his analyses of the implementation of the Directive in Dutch and English national procedure and his proposals for German implementation as three separate cases rather than comparatively, as any attempt to compare either the method of national implementation or the degree of adequacy or inadequacy inevitably obscures the essential particularities of each of the three national systems in relation to the Directive. Although this book will repay the study of anyone interested in European law, it will be of special value to practitioners and policymakers engaged in intellectual property law, particularly in EU Member States.

International Competition Law Series [ICLS], Volume 89 Designed to deter anticompetitive conduct and to ensure full compensation for loss and damage caused by competition infringements, the Antitrust Damages Directive has become a crucial factor in companies’ risk management planning. This first book of its kind offers a comparative overview, practical and authoritative, of the implementation and application of private enforcement rules in each EU Member State as well as in the post-Brexit United Kingdom, covering legislation and case law to date. For leading jurisdictions where practice is already well developed, there are more detailed chapters, with perspectives of judges, competition authorities, practitioners, and economists. The contributors – all experts in the use of EU competition law in their respective jurisdictions – cover the provisions of the Directive in detail, including the following: requirement of full compensation; rules preventing overcompensation; court’s power to estimate damages that cannot be precisely quantified; joint and several liability for infringing undertakings; coordination between public and private enforcement; provisions related to passing-on; certain rules on admissibility of evidence; rules on limitation periods; and consensual dispute resolution. In its detailed explanations of shared best practices and its highlighting of opportunities for convergence, the book provides much-needed insight into judicial practice and thinking, the economic approaches and strategies relevant to damages, and the coordination between public and private enforcement. These expert views will prove invaluable for practitioners wishing to see how the law and practice might evolve in their own jurisdictions, as well as into the problems that have arisen or might arise in the future.

Article 340 TFEU, which provides a method of compensation for victims of the Commission’s errors, is invoked as the basis for actions against Commission decisions under the Merger Control Regulation. Accordingly, the rules of procedure of the Community Courts come into play. This probing analysis asks the important questions: What limits can be imposed on the discretion of the Community Courts acting within their own rules of procedure? Is the manner in which the Court of Justice interprets those rules sufficient? Focusing on the crucial Court responsibilities of investigating facts and assessing economic damage in relation to the type of non-contractual liability apparent in antitrust cases, the author convincingly demonstrates that the scope for ‘case management’ by the Courts is strictly limited, and may engender information or evidentiary deficits that contravene ECHR Art 6.1 as well as the principles of effective judicial protection and rectitude of decision. A claim for compensation pursuant to Art 340 TFEU may be struck merely because the basic elements of the cause of action cannot be established to a minimal level.

Private enforcement of competition law, in particular through damages actions, is recently one of the highly debated topics in European competition law. Arguments for private enforcement are based on the EU principle of effectiveness, while existing national substantive and procedural regimes applicable to damages may be ill-suited for the effective enforcement of EU competition law. However, the risk that the introduction of enforcement-oriented measures into national law is incompatible with private (civil) law is often underestimated or neglected. This book aims to reconcile both EU enforcement and private law perspectives through a detailed study of the English and Slovenian private law systems. Research on the compatibility of EU competitionenforcement- oriented measures with the private law regimes in England and Slovenia is used to argue that some changes to private law (based on proposals for effective enforcement) go too far and risk undermining the integrity of the Legal systems. This book already takes into account the 2014 Directive on antitrust damages actions.

During the past decade, private enforcement of competition law has slowly taken off in Europe. However, major differences still exist among Member States. By harmonizing a number of procedural rules, the Damages Directive aimed to establish a level playing field among EU Member States. This timely book represents the first assessment of the implementation of the Damages Directive. Offering a comparative perspective, key chapters provide an up-to-date account of the emerging trends in private enforcement of competition law in Europe.

The elements of infrastructure – roads, transportation, electricity, water, communications, schools, hospitals – are so ingrained in the fabric of daily life that few people give a second thought to who provides them, and how. Yet, they are controlled by an extensive and complex regulatory system. Moreover, the EU’s State aid modernization plan has made infrastructure a crucial aspect of competition law. How did EU State aid law turn into regulation on whether a city can build a new airport, or how it may operate a school? And what do the rules actually mean for infrastructure funding? These are the questions this book, the first comprehensive guide to EU State aid law in this key sector and a major contribution to the debate on the topic, seeks to answer. In its thorough review of the legal literature as well as relevant legislation and case law, this book covers such aspects of the infrastructure-State aid nexus as the following: – role of infrastructure in competition law; – infrastructure funding as aid and its compatibility with the internal market; – impact on land development and other ongoing activities; – sector-specific impact of State aid regulation on the design of infrastructure projects; – risk management; and – newer infrastructure sectors such as sports and cultural and healthcare projects. At many points in the presentation, the case-by-case analysis provides individual appraisals. In addition to focusing on the complex rules and how they have been interpreted in the decisional practice of the Commission and in the EU case law, this book provides deeply informed proposals for reform. This is a key work in a field of EU law that has developed and changed dramatically in recent years. It is sure to be of immeasurable value to practitioners and jurists in State aid law, competition law, and public procurement, as well as market actors (aid beneficiaries and competitors), policymakers, government officials, and business persons in these fields.

Margin squeeze is a form of abuse of a dominant position in which a vertically integrated company reduces the margin between the price charged to competitors and the price charged to consumers, which can have the effect of excluding a competitor from the market. In the decade or so since the liberalisation of network industries, margin squeeze has become a major source of concern among competition authorities and courts, particularly pronounced in the electronic communications sector. Because some of the adopted decisions show significant inconsistencies in approach, and legal certainty remains elusive in this area, this book which provides an extremely thorough analysis is both timely and of great practical value. The author provides an in-depth examination of margin squeeze allegations in the electronic communications sector with a view to developing a more advanced and comprehensive analysis of principles which should guide ex post assessment of margin squeeze. Issues and topics covered include: – scope of intervention in margin squeeze cases both for national regulatory and national competition authorities; – conditions for sanctioning margin squeeze under Article 102; – methodological and practical difficulties in identifying a margin squeeze; – methodology employed in margin squeeze cases and its regulatory aspects; – assessment of the ability and incentives of regulated firms to engage in a margin squeeze; and – situations when competition law is used to address the deficits of regulation and regulatory failures. It also includes a critical comparison of the vertical foreclosure analysis undertaken in margin squeeze cases with the approach adopted in the EU Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines. Throughout the analysis, margin squeeze treatment in the European Union and its Member States is examined in light of the diverging approach adopted by the US Supreme Court. The increasing complexity of the electronic communications market can only further confound an already complex assessment of price squeezes, and one can expect that claims of anticompetitive margin squeeze in liberalised network industries will continue to be high on the enforcement agenda of competition authorities for years to come. In light of the need for a coherent, or at least predictable, sentencing policy to provide relative legal certainty, the research in this book proves invaluable. The analysis and conclusions discussed in this book will be welcomed by policymakers, regulators, and lawyers working in the areas of competition law and electronic communications law.