The Enforcement of EU Competition Rules by Civil Law

In the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest from EU policy makers in encouraging private enforcement of antitrust law within the EU. According to the EU Commission, a better system of antitrust damages actions would not only be beneficial for potential claimants, but would also lead to a higher level of compliance with the competition rules. To enhance the effectiveness of the right of the victims to damages, the EU Commission presented, first in the Green Paper and later in the White Paper, a number of policy suggestions aimed at encouraging damage actions. It is expected that the introduction of these measures into the national legal systems of Member States would reduce the differences that exist between Member States in their governance of actions for damages. This book analyzes the applications of the policy suggestions on encouragement of private antitrust enforcement within the EU, examining recent case law and statistics. It takes into account the private law aspects of antitrust damage actions in England and Slovenia and carries out an in-depth examination of the existing legal structure under which antitrust damage actions can be brought.