Brussels, 10/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - This Tuesday 11 June, the European Commission is to adopt the proposed directive regarding damages actions for infringements of the European rules on cartels and abuses of dominant position, as well as a communication on quantifying damage caused by these infringements.
The aim of the directive is to remove the obstacles still in place hampering anyone (public entities, businesses, consumers) damaged by infringements of this kind in bringing claims and obtaining compensation for damages suffered. It will also lay down common minimum criteria to be included in the national legislations. Although currently, 16 member states already allow actions of this kind to be brought, claims by private entities remain limited due to disparities in national legislation and the unrecovered amount of damages resulting from cartels or abuses of dominant position is in the neighbourhood of €20 billion a year in the EU, according to the Commission's estimates. In parallel, the draft will also bring in protection against abusive claims, mass exaggerated claims or “American-style” excesses of specialist private entities (law firms, third-party recovery specialists) in this type of case. In this way: - only state-accredited non-profitmaking bodies or public entities would be authorised to act on behalf of victims, also leaving the option for plaintiffs to decide whether or not to act directly (opt-in principle); - an opt-out mechanism would allow class actions on behalf of a generic group of consumers; - lastly, abusive or made-up claims would be discouraged by a principle of “the loser pays” for regulatory charges and the exclusion of punitive damages.
The communication on quantifying the damage lays down standards to determine the exact level of the damage suffered as a result of a merger or abuse of dominant position, an exercise which has hitherto constituted one of the main obstacles to effective compensation for victims. (FG/transl.fl)