Cartel members only - Revisiting private antitrust policy in Europe

Peyer, Sebastian (2011) Cartel members only - Revisiting private antitrust policy in Europe. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 60 (3). pp. 627-657. ISSN 1471-6895

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Abstract

This paper examines the current European private antitrust enforcement policy. The European Commission’s White Paper of 2008, the unofficial Draft Directive of 2009 and the collective redress consultation of 2011 consider a facilitated access to private actions for all types of antitrust violations under articles 101 and 102 TFEU in order to effectively compensate the victims of anticompetitive conduct. Assuming that changes are necessary, the paper argues that it might be worthwhile to limit this policy to damages claims against hardcore violations such as cartels. This suggestion is based on two main arguments. Firstly, the current European private antitrust policy probably underestimates the risks of more damages actions against all types of infringements neglecting insights from the economic analysis of law. Secondly, a revised approach is not only in line with the thinking that underpins the reform but also addresses an actual need as revealed by a comparison of litigation data from different jurisdictions. Refining the European private antitrust policy, it is argued that a focus on hard-core anticompetitive constraints such as price fixing would mitigate the potential for a strategic use of antitrust litigation and reduce the likelihood that the reform of European antitrust damages actions will lead to negative outcomes.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Competition, Markets and Regulation
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Media, Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy
Depositing User: Sebastian Peyer
Date Deposited: 04 Nov 2011 09:17
Last Modified: 16 Jan 2024 01:20
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/35373
DOI: 10.1017/S002058931100025X

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