Advocate General Opens Door to Umbrella Claims in Cartel Damages Cases

Feb 27, 2014

CPI Europe Column edited by Anna Tzanaki (Competition Policy International) presents:

Advocate General Opens Door to Umbrella Claims in Cartel Damages Cases by Johan Van Acker and Valérie Lefever (Van Bael & Bellis)

Intro by Anna Tzanaki (Competition Policy International)

Welcome to the February edition of the Europe Column. Johan Van Acker and Valérie Lefever (Van Bael & Bellis) introduce us to some potentially important developments in the area of private antitrust enforcement. At issue is umbrella pricing and private damages actions against cartel members by customers of non-cartel participants before national courts. Advocate General Kokott, in a recent opinion to the ECJ, made clear that the issue of whether cartelists can be held liable for umbrella pricing is a matter of EU law. With an interesting reasoning, the AG concluded that national rules cannot categorically exclude umbrella claims in cartel damages proceedings. We shall wait and see whether (and to what extent) the ECJ will follow the AG’s opinion and the further implications for cartel members and private plaintiffs in Europe. Enjoy reading!

Introduction

On 30 January 2014, Advocate General (“AG”) Juliane Kokott of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) adopted an opinion addressing the as yet unsettled question under EU law whether the civil liability of members of a cartel also extends to so-called “umbrella pricing.”¹

The term umbrella pricing is used to describe p