Compensation liability for antitrust damages caused by related companies – development of the concept of a single economic unit Case comment to the CJEU judgment of 6 October 2021 in case C-882/19 Sumal SL v Mercedes Benz Trucks España SL

Abstract

The subject of this case comment is the analysis and assessment of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued on 6 October 2021 in case C-882/19, brought by Sumal SL v Mercedes Benz Trucks España SL. The Sumal judgment concerns an important issue in the area of competition law, both public and private (private enforcement) – determining the group of entities responsible for infringements of competition law operating within one economic body. Earlier CJEU case law in this regard focused primarily on determining the liability of the parent company within a group of companies. In the Sumal judgment, however, the CJEU raised the issue of the liability of subsidiaries in the event of a breach of competition law by the parent company. The CJEU has by no means crossed out its earlier case law on the single economic unit, but looked at the issue from the opposite direction and specified the liability conditions of subsidiaries. Such clarification was undoubtedly desirable. However, it calls into question the principle of liability of subsidiaries in a situation where they were not directly involved in the infringement, rather than only indirectly or informally.