AdC launches public consultation on draft transposition of Directive on Antitrust Damages Actions
The AdC (Portuguese Competition Authority) launched a public consultation on the draft legislation for the transposition of the EU Directive on Antitrust Damages Actions, which will help citizens and companies claim damages if they are victims of infringements of antitrust rules.
Directive 2014/104/EU was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 5 December 2014, and must be transposed into national law by 27 December 2016.
The AdC believes that an open, transparent and inclusive implementation procedure, with the involvement of the various stakeholders, will bring about a legislative proposal of higher quality and, therefore, contribute to a wider and more effective promotion of a culture of competition in Portugal.
In addition to the present public consultation, the AdC constituted an external working group, to function as “sounding board” of the ongoing legislative work, and organized a consultative workshop on the issue, in order to “market test” some of the proposed solutions, with the participation of representatives of numerous and different stakeholders.
The EU Court of Justice acknowledged since 2001, the right for victims of antitrust infringements to be compensated for the harm suffered. However, due to differences between legal regimes in the various Member-States, only few victims currently obtain compensation.
The Directive is designed to facilitate compensation for victims of antitrust infringements and to fine-tune the interplay between private damages claims and public enforcement.
The new regime thus aims to achieve a more effective enforcement of competition rules, enhancing the incentives for competition on the merits, in order to maximize the welfare of citizens and, ultimately, economic growth.
All interested parties should send their written comments by 27 May to the consultapublica@concorrencia.pt email address, quoting "Public consultation on the draft transposition of Directive Private Enforcement" or to the postal address: Av . Berna, 19, 1050-037 , with the same reference.
26 April 2016
