Does the EU's Drive for Private Enforcement of Competition Law Have a Coherent Purpose?

Abstract

The Competition Laws of the European Union (‘EU’) have been a major influence on countless jurisdictions around the world, but their strength as a public enforcement regime have always contrasted with a perceived absence of private enforcement. Private parties cannot bring an action for damages or injunctive relief before EU courts. They can only make a complaint to the European Commission or National Competition Authority, to investigate an infringement of competition law, on their behalf. Therefore, a party’s ability to recover damages falls on the national tort and civil liability rules of each Member State. Although most European legal systems can broadly be described as belonging to the civil law tradition, there are significant differences in procedure and legal culture when it comes to recovering damages. It is also important to remember that the EU has continued to grow in the last fifteen years, with the accession of ten new Member States in 2004, and a further three between 2007 and 2013. These include states that have made a rapid transition from centrally planned economies and Communist-era legal systems.