The ICLJ has just published an article by Partners Frédéric Louis, Anne Vallery and Cormac O’Daly and Associate Édouard Bruc on “Private Enforcement of EU Competition Law: Recent Developments” in the ICLG - Competition Litigation 2025. Among other things, the article discusses the most recent EU case law on limitation periods, the evidential weight of non-final Commission decisions, various jurisdictional issues, and some national judgments on minimum damages. It provides valuable insights into the emerging area of private enforcement of competition law in the EU.
Excerpt: “Courts in Spain and Germany have developed new practices regarding what can be described as a judicially-fashioned minimum compensation level. In June 2023, in the Dieselgate case, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that, pursuant to the EU principle of effectiveness, a lower limit of 5% of the purchase price paid should apply to damages. Similarly, in the same month, in the context of a mass litigation arising from the Trucks case, the Spanish Supreme Court estimated an overcharge of 5%, as conservative minimum damages. The Dieselgate judgment, while certainly groundbreaking, deserves less scrutiny, as it does not take place in the context of competition law and the specific rules on compensation and judicial estimation contained in Articles 3 and 17 of the Damages Directive.”
