03 April 2008

Speech Kroes: Policy paper on compensating victims of competition breaches

Competition Commission Kroes outlined the main principles set out in the Commission White Paper. “Collective redress is an absolute necessity”, Kroes said. The Commission therefore suggests a combination of two complementary mechanisms, the ‘opt-in collective actions’, in which victims expressly decide to combine their individual claims for harm they suffered into one single action and ‘representative actions’, which are brought by qualified entities, such as consumer or trade associations.

However, excessive disclosure obligations should be avoided. The Commission also recommends that final infringement decisions of Member States' competition authorities should be considered sufficient proof of an infringement in subsequent actions for damages.

Full speech

© Graham Bishop