Private Damage Claims – Recent Developments in the Passing-on Defence

Abstract

In recent years the European Commission has focused its concern on bolstering new developments within European legal systems aimed at facilitating actions for damages caused by infringements of antitrust laws. Debates and initiatives surrounding the matter are clearly animated by an objective to provide better and more efficient enforcement of competition law while at the same time allowing customers access to redress for their losses. Specifically, the Commission states that the absence of an effective legal framework for antitrust damages actions (i) causes victims of antitrust infringement to forego a considerable amount of compensation, and (ii) also hampers full enforcement of antitrust rules, thus having a negative bearing on vigorous competition in an open internal market.