Draft guidelines for national courts on how to estimate the share of cartel overcharges passed on to indirect purchasers and final consumers

Policy field

Competition: antitrust

 

Target group

All interested parties, in particular:

• National courts of the Member States and individual judges at such courts
• Companies and their representatives (internal and external, lawyers and economic consultants), victims of infringements of competition law and corresponding national law, non-EU courts and individual judges at such courts, arbitrators
• Bar associations and associations for economists, academics and researchers, consumer organizations
• National competition authorities (EEA and non-EEA) and other public authorities

 

Period of consultation

From 05.07.2018 to 04.10.2018

 

Objective of the consultation

This consultation is intended to collect input from stakeholders on the draft guidelines for national courts on how to estimate the share of cartel overcharges passed on to indirect purchasers and final consumers (“Draft Passing-on Guidelines”). The European Commission strongly encourages all interested parties to submit their views and comments.

While the Antitrust Damages Directive (Directive 2014/104/EU) provides for the right of any citizen or company to claim full compensation for harm suffered from an infringement of EU competition law, such harm may have been suffered by different persons at different levels of the supply chain. It is therefore important for the national courts of the Member States, as well as the parties, to be able to assess whether and to which extent the harm has been passed on down the supply chain. This assessment may be challenging, as national courts have to construct the hypothetical situation in which the claimant would have been had the infringement not taken place.

In order to address these challenges, the final version following the Draft Passing-on Guidelines will aim to provide non-binding guidance. It will complement the Practical Guide on Quantifying Harm (SWD(2013) 205). The Draft Passing-on Guidelines describe the most relevant legal instruments and economic methods available to national court and parties to estimate the amount of the overcharge that was passed on to indirect customers and final consumers.

This consultation takes place in English, French and German. However, non-binding working translations of the Draft Guidelines into the other EU languages will be provided, and made available at this website. For sending feedback, all the EU official languages will be accepted.

 

How to submit your contribution

We welcome contributions from individuals, organisations and public authorities.

• If you are answering this consultation as an individual, please click comp-a4-mailec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: Draft_Guidelines_Cartel_Overcharges_Reply_Citizen) (here) to submit your contribution.
• If you are answering this consultation on behalf of an organisation, please click comp-a4-mailec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: Draft_Guidelines_Cartel_Overcharges_Reply_Organisation) (here) to submit your contribution.
• If you are answering this consultation on behalf of a public authority, please click comp-a4-mailec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: Draft_Guidelines_Cartel_Overcharges_Reply_Public_Authority) (here) to submit your contribution.

Received contributions will be published. It is important to read the specific privacy statement attached to this consultation for information on how your personal data and contribution will be dealt with.

 

View the consultation documents

de en fr

Non-binding working translations of the Draft Guidelines into the other EU languages bg cs dk et el es it lv lt hr hu mt nl pl pt ro sk sl fi sv

 

Contact details

Responsible services:
Directorate-General for Competition, Unit A.4

E-mail address: comp-a4-mailec [dot] europa [dot] eu (comp-a4-mail[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Postal address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition, Unit A.4
1049 Brussels

 

Replies to the consultation

• Ana Merino and Samantha Catalina Guerrero 
• Asociación Española para la Defensa de la Competencia (AEDC) 
• Association Française d’Etude de la Concurrence (AFEC) 
• Association française des entreprises privées (AFEP) 
• Antitrust Litigation Investment Srl (ALI) 
• American Bar Association (ABA) 
• Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP (BCLP) 
• Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI) 
• Case Associates 
• Cartel Damage Claims (CDC) 
• Economic Insight 
• Hausfeld & Co 
• Linklaters 
• Oxera 
• Simmons & Simmons 
• Stewarts LLP 
• Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht