Competition Law: Comparative Private Enforcement and Collective Redress Across the EU

This book presents and evaluates the results of an AHRC funded research project designed to generate a quantitative analysis of the extent to which private enforcement of competition law has taken place across twenty-seven EU Member States over a period of 13 years to 1 May 2012 in order to consider the extent to which the rights provided by competition law in the EU are protected and accorded effectiveness.

It fills a major gap in our knowledge of the use of private litigation in Europe, especially in relation to consumer redress in competition-related cases, providing empirical evidence to inform policy debate and developments. Based on extensive work by expert rapporteurs from 27 EU Member States, the study identifies, for the period 1999–2012, all competition law cases before the domestic courts of the EU where parties were seeking to exercise rights conferred on them either by EU law (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU) or the domestic competition law equivalents. The general hypothesis that underlies the project is that private enforcement practice may at least partly be explained by the existence or availability of particular institutions, mechanisms and cultural factors in relation to the particular legal system, and, accordingly, the book provides an overview of certain aspects of the legal and institutional background to private enforcement across the Member states, focusing on:

+ the availability of a specialist competition law tribunal/court;

+ provision for stand-alone and/or follow-on actions;

+ information revelation mechanisms; and

+ litigation costs and funding mechanisms.

Competition Law: Comparative Private Enforcement and Collective Redress Across the EU

After a discussion of EU and national trends in private enforcement, three special chapters provide further insight into such matters as:

- incentives derived from procedural rules which may explain the differences in observed competition related litigation activity;
- recent developments in the application of the certification criteria in relation to ‘class actions’ in the US amid concerns over the transplantation of a potentially abusive class action mechanism from the US for competition law collective actions in Europe;
- and a critique of the current European approach, suggesting that public enforcement and ADR may be more effective, quicker and cheaper than private enforcement.

This study responds to the growing consensus among European competition authorities that private enforcement is a key element of a more competitive European economy.

Contents:

+ List of Editors and Contributors.

+ Acknowledgements.

+ PART I The AHRC Project on Private Enforcement and Collective Redress in the EU.

++ CHAPTER 1 Private Enforcement Context and Project Background.

++ CHAPTER 2 Institutions and Mechanisms to Facilitate Private Enforcement.

++ CHAPTER 3 The Empirical Data Part 1: Methodology, Case-Law, Courts and Processes.

++ CHAPTER 4 The Empirical Data Part 2: Provisions Relied Upon, Remedies and Success.

++ CHAPTER 5 Collective Redress Mechanisms and Consumer Case-Law.

+ PART II Private Enforcement, Economic Incentives and Alternative Collective Redress Mechanisms.

++ CHAPTER 6 Comparing Economic Incentives across EU Member States.

++ CHAPTER 7 A View from across the Atlantic: Recent Developments in the Case-Law of the US Federal Courts on Class Certification in Antitrust Cases.

++ CHAPTER 8 Fast, Effective and Low Cost Redress: How Do Public and Private Enforcement and ADR Compare?

+ PART III Concluding Remarks.

++ CHAPTER 9 Concluding Remarks.