Abstract
The article analyses the provisions on limitation of antitrust damages actions set out in Directive 2014/104/EU 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. It presents (draft) implementing legislation of CEE countries from the perspective of their general rules on limitation, and the problems the Member States have faced in the process of transposing the Directive into their national legal systems. Within that, focus is placed upon the analysis of the types of limitation periods, their length and their suspension or interruption. In addition, the authors present the effects of the new limitation regime on the balance between the interests of the claimants and of the defendants, as well as on the relation between public and private antitrust enforcement.
Highlights
The main aim of statutes of limitations is the prevention of infinite controversies (Cigoj, 1984, p. 1141)
As an objective trigger causing the start of the running of the limitation period regulated in Article 10, the Directive provides for a negative definition: the limitation period should not run until the infringement of competition law has ceased
None of the countries felt the need to extend this period beyond one year, the Directive allows for that. We find it important to reiterate, that a one-year post-public proceedings period was enacted by some of the Member States that otherwise opted for the interruption concept, which to us remains a peculiar solution, as the interruption results in the limitation period starting anew
Summary
The main aim of statutes of limitations is the prevention of infinite controversies (Cigoj, 1984, p. 1141). The regulation of limitation of antitrust claims has been one of the focal issues of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 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 (hereinafter, the Directive).. In Manfredi, the only CJEU judgment addressing the issue of limitation of antitrust damages claims, the Court has given only limited guidance as to the proper content of the limitation regime in the field of EU competition rules. The paper discusses the effects of the new limitation regime on the balance between the interests of the claimants and of the defendants, as well as on the relation between public and private enforcement of antitrust
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