Over the past few years, follow-on damages actions have significantly increased in Europe. Since the transposition of Directive 2014/104/EU on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of competition law (the “Damages Directive”), the number of private enforcement actions before French courts has grown significantly, even though a large number of disputes are settled by transaction rather than by a court decision.
Since the adoption of the Damages Directive, a set of presumptions has been established to help victims who have suffered harm because of competition law infringements to succeed in their follow-on actions. However, in practice, it appears that it is not so easy for claimants to obtain compensation.
