First Thoughts on the European White Paper on Damages-- Enter the White Paper for Damages Actions: A First Selective Appraisal

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Assimakis Komninos (White & Case) has published an analysis of the European Commission's White Paper on damages titled Enter the White Paper for Damages Actions: A First Selective Appraisal.

ABSTRACT: On April 3, 2008, the European Commission published its long-awaited White Paper on Damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules (WP).

The WP itself is a rather short document that summarizes the far more developed Staff Working Paper and an impressive 600-page Impact Assessment report. It offers a good first reading of the measures envisaged by the Commission to enhance private actions for damages, but should be read together with the Staff Working Paper (SWP), which is in reality the most important policy instrument.

This article is a first appraisal of some of the most important policy choices of the WP. These have to do with the rule of standing, the passing-on defence, the introduction of collective claims, and the interaction with the leniency program.