European Collective Redress Developments (August 2013)

Abstract

The purpose of this brief note is to provide an overview of recent collective redress developments in Europe, in particular on the European level and four European jurisdictions: the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium. With respect to the European developments, attention is paid to the recent Recommendation of the European Commission on Collective Redress Mechanisms (in which it lists some common, non-binding, principles that Member States should take into account when crafting such mechanisms), the proposal for a Directive on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, and the recent ADR Directive and ODR Regulation. Furthermore, the Dutch Act of June 26, 2013 amending the Dutch Collective Settlements Act, is discussed. The two most significant revisions are the applicability of the act in bankruptcy cases, and the introduction of a pre-trial hearing. Next, the 2012 amendments of the German KapMuG are analyzed. The most salient amendment is that class members now can register (announce) their claim with the court and the defendant and apply for model case treatment without having to initiate fully-fledged proceedings. Finally, the two recent class action proposals that were launched in France and Belgium are discussed.