The European Commission has sent
reasoned opinions to Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia,
Malta and Portugal asking them to take steps to implement Directive 2014/104 on
private damages for infringements of competition law.
The Directive states that it is
designed to ensure that “anyone who has suffered harm caused by an infringement
of competition law…can effectively exercise the right to claim full
compensation”. The broad aim of the
Directive is to address the impediments to the effective enforcement of
competition law in the majority of Member States and to establish minimum
standards and approaches in the procedural rules.
Member states were required to
implement the Directive into their national law by 27 December 2016 but Bulgaria,
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Malta and Portugal have failed to
notify the Commission of their domestic transposition measures.
These seven member states now have
two months to inform the Commission of measures taken to implement the
Directive. If not, the Commission may
bring proceedings against them before the Court of Justice.
Private damages actions are already
increasingly common in a number of Member States, for example the UK, Germany
and the Netherlands have been the more attractive venues for bringing private
claims. Once implemented it is expected
that the Directive will have a considerable impact on the laws in Member States
where the system for private enforcement is less developed.
Yet despite the framework for common EU-wide
approaches, it is likely to remain the case for some years at least that
certain jurisdictions will provide a more attractive venue for bringing a
private damages claim than others.
MEMO/17/1935, 13 July 2017
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