Competition - Private enforcement of competition rules

On 2 September 2004, the Directorate General for Competition of the European Commission published a study on the conditions for claims for damages in case of infringement of EC competition rules.

The study is available on the Commission web site at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/private_enforcement/index_en.html

This study covered all 25 EU Member States and was coordinated by Ashursts in cooperation with other law firms. The national report on the Slovak Republic was prepared by Čechová Rakovský.

The Commission is dissatisfied with the current situation in the EU, comparing it with the situation in the U.S. where 90% of all enforcement is private enforcement, with the other 10% carried out by public authorities. Private actions can be an effective tool in competition policy. Not only would anticompetitive behaviour be brought to an end, but consumers or affected competitors would also be directly compensated for losses they suffered as a result of infringement of competition rules.

The European Commission is, therefore, looking at ways to encourage private parties to seek compensation for harm caused to them by anticompetitive behaviour and see enhancement of private actions as key to further practices such as price-fixing cartels or abuses of dominant position.

The main purpose of the study is, therefore, to analyse the situation in each of the 25 Member States of the European Union, make a comparative legal and economic analysis and suggest the ways through which private enforcement actions in the European Union should develop in the future.

The Commission is expected to publish a green paper in 2005, possibly leading to legislation on the issue.