Ec Private Antitrust Enforcement

This book, written by an academic-cum-practitioner with substantial experience in the field of antitrust enforcement, presents the rise of private enforcement of competition law in Europe, especially in the context of the recent modernisation and decentralisation of EC competition law enforcement. In particular, the study examines the role of courts in the application of the EC competition rules and views that role in the broader system of antitrust enforcement. The author starts from the premise of private enforcement's independence of public enforcement and after examining the new institutional position of national courts and their relationship with the Court of Justice, the Commission, and public enforcement in general, proceeds to deal with the detailed substantive and procedural law framework of private antitrust actions in Europe. The author describes the current post-decentralisation state of affairs but also refers to the latest proposals to enhance private antitrust enforcement in Europe both at the Community level, where reference is made to the December 2005 Commission Green Paper on Damages Actions and its aftermath, and at the national level, where reference is made to recent and forthcoming relevant initiatives.

This book, written by an academic-cum-practitioner with substantial experience in the field of antitrust enforcement, presents the rise of private enforcement of competition law in Europe, especially in the context of the recent modernisation and decentralisation of EC competition law enforcement. In particular, the study examines the role of courts in the application of the EC competition rules and views that role in the broader system of antitrust enforcement. The author starts from the premise of private enforcement's independence of public enforcement and after examining the new institutional position of national courts and their relationship with the Court of Justice, the Commission, and public enforcement in general, proceeds to deal with the detailed substantive and procedural law framework of private antitrust actions in Europe. The author describes the current post-decentralisation state of affairs but also refers to the latest proposals to enhance private antitrust enforcement in Europe both at the Community level, where reference is made to the December 2005 Commission Green Paper on Damages Actions and its aftermath, and at the national level, where reference is made to recent and forthcoming relevant initiatives.

The European Commission's recent green paper on damages actions for breach of EC antitrust rules stirred a debate across Europe on the need for legal reform that would encourage private plaintiffs to claim compensation for losses suffered as a result of anticompetitive conduct. Prominent in the wake of that initiative was the international conference convened by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg in April 2006, the papers and proceedings of which are presented in this important book. Among the topics and issues raised and discussed here are the following: the 2001 Courage judgment of the European Court of Justice, in which the court decided that everyone who suffers losses from a violation of arts. 81 or 82 EC is entitled to compensation; relevance of the case law that contributes to general principles of European tort law; comparative analysis from the more comprehensive experience of national laws in the United States, Germany, France, and Italy; calculation of damages; passing-on of losses sustained in an upstream market to customers in a downstream market; procedural devices which may help to overcome the lack of implementation; duties of disclosure and the burden of proof; collective actions that may help to overcome the rational abstention of individuals; pitfalls of leniency programmes implemented by national competition authorities; and, issues of jurisdiction and choice of law. The lively debates that followed the presentations at the conference are also recorded here. Although more discussion will be needed before a viable legal framework in this area begins to emerge, these ground-breaking contributions by lawyers of various disciplines, jurists, economists, academics, and European policymakers take a giant step forward. For lawyers, academics, and officials engaged with this important area of international law, this book clearly improves our understanding of the economic need and legal particularities which could generate an effective European system of private antitrust litigation.

The European Competition Law Annual 2001 is the sixth in a series of volumes following the annual workshops on EU Competition Law and Policy held at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University in Florence. The volume reproduces the materials of the roundtable debate that took place at the sixth edition of the Workshop (1-2 June 2001),which examined the conditions for an effective private enforcement of EC antitrust rules. The application of EC antitrust rules in the context of private litigation before national courts and arbitration tribunals is becoming a highly topical subject against the background of the on-going debate about the decentralisation of EC antitrust enforcement. The participants – a group of senior representatives of the Commission, national judges, arbitrators, renowned academics and international legal experts in the field of antitrust - discussed in particular the following aspects: a) the availability and effectiveness of substantive remedies in the enforcement of EC antitrust rules at the EU level in general and in four major EU jurisdictions in particular (England, France, Italy and Germany); b) the procedural issues arising in the enforcement of EC antitrust rules by national courts in four EU jurisdictions (England, France, Italy and Germany) and at the EU level in general; c) the problems arising in the application of Article 81(3) EC by arbitration tribunals. In addition to these issues, the participants also discussed whether the public enforcement of EC antitrust rules could be rendered more efffective by introducing sanctions applicable to the individuals responsible for their violation.

After 1 May 2004, the enforcement of European antitrust law entered a new era. At the same time as 10 new Member States joined the European Union, Regulation No 17, which had governed the enforcement of Articles 81 and 82 EC since 1962, was replaced by Regulation No 1/2003, which has ushered in far-reaching changes. This book brings together six essays which analyse the background and main characteristics of the new enforcement system, as well as a number of outstanding questions and potential areas of further reform, including the question whether private antitrust enforcement should be encouraged, and the question whether the decisional power in antitrust matters should be transferred to the courts. Special attention is given to the problem of the compatibility of the new enforcement system and of the practice of European antitrust enforcement with the requirements of the European Convention of Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including the principle of ne bis in idem, the privilege against self-incrimination, and the right to an independent and impartial tribunal. On many of these issues, the discussion contained in this book is not only legal, but also includes an economic analysis from the perspective of efficient law enforcement.

Competition is recognised as a key driver of growth and innovation. Competition ensures that businesses continually improve their goods and services whilst striving to reduce their costs. Anti-competitive conduct by businesses, such as price-fixing, causes harm to the economy, to other businesses and to consumers. It is small businesses and the consumer who ultimately pay the price for anti-competitive conduct. A coherent competition policy that is both effectively implemented and effectively enforced is essential in driving growth and innovation in a market economy. The importance of competition was recently emphasised when the EU/ECB/IMF 'Troika' included a number of competition specific conditions to the terms of Ireland's bailout. Both Irish and Community law recognise the right for parties injured by anti-competitive conduct to sue for damages. This right to damages, in theory, allows those that have suffered loss to recover that loss whilst helping to deter others from taking the illegal route to commercial success. However private actions for damages in Ireland are rare. This book asks what the purpose of private competition litigation is and questions why there has been a dearth of this litigation in Ireland. The author makes a number of suggestions for reform of the law to enable and encourage private competition litigation. The author takes as his starting point the European Commission's initiative on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules and compares the position in Ireland to that currently found in the UK and US.

This text proves that as a result of the enhanced private antitrust enforcement reform, private international law has a vital role to play if EC competition rules are to be enforced. To this end, it makes an analysis of how the post 2003 policy of the EC favouring private law enforcement of EC competition law can be implemented.

In recent years European Community (EC) competition law has come under fire. Continued criticism of all aspects of the means by which EC competition law is enforced has brought to light ineffectiveness of the present system. Consequently the European Commission has responded by issuing the “White Paper on Modernisation”,which sets out its vision on the future of EC competition law. This new book takes a step back, and tries to understand the current challenges to EC competition policy by examining the origins of the Community's competition law system. In the first part of the book the author sketches the development of Community competition law enforcement between the European Economic Community, established in 1958, and the European Union of today. Taking this dynamic perspective on EC competition law, the second part of the book addresses topical problems of EC competition policy; the pertinent objectives, the institutional framework, the division of jurisdiction between the Community and Member States, and decentralised enforcement of Community law. Notably, the author's conclusions diverge considerably from the analysis found in the Commission White Paper on Modernisation. The author proposes various alternative solutions to the existing problems which, arguably, fit better within the overall constitutional development of the Community than the solutions offered by the Commission. The book will be of interest to competition lawyers as well as to all those interested in the constitutional development of the European Community.