Private Enforcement, Procedural Autonomy and Article 19 (1) TEU: Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd

Summary:

This article concentrates on the issue of private enforcement in the areas of consumer protection and competition rules, with the particular aim of clarifying how to ensure compliance with Article 19(1) TEU and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the field of consumer and competition law at the national level.

The article focuses on actions for damages and injunctions. After recalling the role of courts and judges in providing EU judicial protection and a general introduction to procedural autonomy, attention turns to its implications with regard to both the right to obtain compensation for damages following a breach of EU law and the actual access to that right, to continue with a critical assessment of the impact of particularism and procedural autonomy on ensuring effective legal protection to victims of infringements of EU consumer and competition law. Lastly, the article presents a blueprint for private enforcement and Article 19(1) TEU.