EU competition litigation : transposition and first experiences of the new regime

All EU Member States have now transposed Directive 2014/104/EU on damages actions for breaches of competition law into national law. The Directive (and the soft-law instruments accompanying it) not only marks a new phase for private enforcement of competition law but also, more generally, provides a novel and thought provoking instance of EU harmonisation of aspects of private law and civil litigation. Following up on a previous volume in the Swedish Studies in European Law series, published in 2016, this book offers contributions from top practitioners and scholars from all over Europe, who present and discuss first experiences from the implementation of the new damages regime in various jurisdictions. Topics covered include theoretical and practical reflections on the state of private enforcement in Europe, the balancing of conflicting interests pertaining to public and private enforcement of competition law respectively, and specific legal issues such as causation and the estimation of harm. The authors explore problems solved, problems created, and future challenges in the new regime of private enforcement of competition law in Europe, offering predictions as to issues that may have to be settled through recourse to the European Court of Justice.-- PART I : ROLLING OUT THE NEW PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT REGIME -- 1. EU Competences and the Damages Directive: The Continuum Between Minimum and Full Harmonisation -- 2. The State of Private Enforcement of Competition Law: A Practitioner's Perspective -- 3. Managing Transposition and Avoiding Fragmentation: The Example of Limitation Periods and Interest -- 4. A First Look at the Portuguese Act 23/2018 Transposing the Private Enforcement Directive -- PART II : BALANCING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT -- 5. Private Enforcement of Public Law – An Inconsistent Approach to Remedies? -- 6. The Binding Effects of Decisions and Judgments under EU Competition Law -- 7. Facilitating Follow-on Actions? Public and Private Enforcement of EU Competition Law After Directive 2014/104 -- 8. The Practical and Legal Effects of National Decisions in Subsequent Damages Actions -- 9. The Quest for Evidence – Still an Uphill Battle for Cartel Victims? -- PART III : SOLVED AND UNSOLVED ISSUES IN PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT -- 10. Damages Actions in Article 102 TFEU Cases: The New Frontier for Private Enforcement -- 11. Implementing the Rules of the Damages Directive on Joint and Several Liability: The SME Derogation -- 12. Causation and Damage: What the Directive Does Not Solve and Remarks on Relevant EU Law -- 13. The Presumption of Harm and its Implementation in the Member States' Legal Orders -- 14. Article 17(3) of the Damages Directive and the Interaction Between the Swedish Competition Authority and Swedish Court