Page "European Union competition law" Paragraph 78

According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, any citizen or business who suffers harm as a result of a breach of the European Union competition rules ( Articles 101 and 102 TFEU ) should be able to obtain reparation from the party who caused the harm.

However, despite this requirement under European law to establish an effective legal framework enabling victims to exercise their right to compensation, victims of European Union competition law infringements to date very often do not obtain reparation for the harm suffered.

The amount of compensation that these victims are foregoing is in the range of several billion Euros a year.

Therefore, the European Commission has taken a number steps since 2004 to stimulate the debate on that topic and elicit feedback from stakeholders on a number of possible options which could facilitate antitrust damages actions.

Based on the outcomes of several public consultations, the Commission has suggested specific policy choices and measures in a White Paper.