By Enrique Sanjuan (University of Malaga)
Articles 18 and 19 of the Damages Directive 2014 include, in development of the provisions of recitals 5 and 48 of the same, the possibility of resolving issues relating to claims for damages by individuals affected by the infringement of antitrust rules, through out-of-court settlements or Consensual Dispute Resolution. These include not only arbitration or mediation processes, but also any other possible process that allows these issues to be resolved outside the courts, whether or not the action has been brought before them. This raises the long-standing problem of the possibility of applying competition law (as public policy rules in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) in these alternative procedures, proceedings or negotiations and the transnational effects that can be obtained from this. This paper analyses these aspects, concluding that there are unresolved problems that will have to be resolved in the coming years in their practical application.
