After the Damages Directive: Policy and Practice in the EU Member States and the United Kingdom

After the Damages Directive, in a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, provides a comprehensive study of the implementation of the Damages Directive in all Member States of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Designed to deter anti-competitive conduct and ensure full compensation for loss and damage caused by competition infringements, the Antitrust Damages Directive has become a crucial factor in companies’ risk management planning. The book examines the implementation of the Directive in its broader legal context with a meaningful comparison of the law and practice in all relevant jurisdictions.

The contributors in their more detailed chapters – all experts in the use of EU competition law in their respective jurisdictions – cover the provisions of the Directive, including the following:

• requirement of full compensation;
• rules preventing overcompensation;
• court’s power to estimate damages that cannot be precisely quantified;
• joint and several liability for infringing undertakings;
• coordination between public and private enforcement;
• provisions related to passing-on;
• certain rules on admissibility of evidence;
• rules on limitation periods; and
• consensual dispute resolution.

By adopting an interdisciplinary and polycentric approach this book provides much-needed insight into judicial practice and thinking, the economic processes and strategies relevant to damages, and the coordination between public and private enforcement. The expert views will prove invaluable for practitioners wishing to see how the law and practice might evolve in their jurisdictions and into the problems that have arisen or might arise in the future.