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Peter Camesasca, Ief Daems, Kristian Hugmark, Sep 08, 2008
In the European Commission (“Commission”)’s mind, the 2008 Settlement Notice (new Notice) is an attempt to create significant procedural efficiencies and avoid resource absorbing access-to-file and other costly procedures before the Luxembourg Courts. As the EC settlement system is nowhere near the negotiated plea bargains one knows from the US, but rather an extension of the mechanical application of the 2006 EC Fine Guidelines (“Guidelines”), the authors argue that the Commission will have to be flexible and provide the incentives to make the system work. In the meantime, parties must carefully consider their strategic options and balance their approaches in order not to jeopardize their strategy for a response to a full Statement of Objections (“SO”) if settlements go wrong.
