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

Filipa Daniela Couto Campos

Keywords

Proposal for a Directive, antitrust, damages, violations, Competition, National Competition Authority

Abstract

The objective of this paper is the analysis of damages actions resulting by the breach of European antitrust rules. First of all, we briefly expose the Green Paper and the White Paper on antitrust damages actions. Then, we present the fundamentals and objectives of 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”. Lastly, we present the solutions contained in this Proposal with regard to the creation of new mechanisms for access to evidences, binding effect of the decisions of the national competition authorities, limitation periods, joint and several liability, repercussion of additional costs, rebuttable presumption that a cartel causes damages, mechanisms for amicable settlement of disputes, and the changes that these suggestions could bring to the Portuguese legal system.