Abstract

Private actions following anti-competitive infringements have become an important part of competition law litigation. It is essential to enable individuals harmed by these infringements to obtain compensation for their losses.

The European Union has decided to regulate and harmonize these private actions within the EU. This initiative has given rise to a Damages Directive based on three notions : legal presumptions, proof and quantification.

However, the difficulty persists in assessing the damage suffered, given the diversity of antitrust infringements, the diversity of their effects and the diversity of their victims. This assessment of the loss requires for complex economic expertise, which are easily overlooked by the law.

The aim of this report is to review the difficulties involved in assessing this type of loss, and the imperfect responses provided by the European Union, before looking at new proposals that would provide a legal framework for this assessment of loss.

Samuel GRASSIN