Brussels, 16/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes was clear in her speech to the International Bar Association (IBA) last Thursday (see EUROPE 9382): European citizens can and must play a more active role against cartels, and this at national level. The Commission hopes thus to strengthen measures against illegal agreements, particularly by encouraging national courts to make greater use of criminal sanctions at their disposal. It recommends vigilance, however, against the adoption of a raft of sometimes excessive legal mores which exist in the United States. It remains to be seen how far it is feasible to decide between the good features of these practices, and the bad.
Alluding to persistent competition problems, Ms Kroes said that “the solutions have to be firmly bedded in our European cultures and traditions,” before going on to say that “certain features of the US private competition litigation system are simply not compatible with our European traditions”.
The features in question relate particularly to damages and as treble damages, where sanctions can amount to three times the damage incurred to have the maximum dissuasive effect, and also so-called opt-out collective actions, where anyone included among the group of applicants is automatically included in the case, unless that person expressly submits his/her wish not to be so included.
In spite of these points for caution, the Commission believes that collective actions have advantages. In the cross-border retail sector, there are obstacles to the development of the single market. But the consumer who pays €100 too much for a product following an illegal agreement can take the case to the courts. A collective action could bring together several thousand people, all in the same situation, to make an altogether weightier complaint. Ms Kroes' colleague at Consumer Protection, Meglena Kuneva, sees in this a way to get round certain gaps on the cross-border retail market, and instil greater confidence among consumers in the single market. “I want a citizen in Birmingham to feel as comfortable shopping for a digital camera from a website in Berlin or Budapest as they would in their High Street,” she said recently.
Only able itself to fine those involved in cartels, the Commission is looking perhaps to encourage more dissuasive criminal sanctions, such as prison sentences. “There is a limit to what we can do,” a spokeswoman for the Competition Commissioner told EUROPE, on the indifference shown by some multinationals to fines. A specialist competition lawyer believes that, for the biggest of them, Commission sanctions are “just a parking ticket”. (cd)