Guide : Actions for damages for anti-competitive practices in France

Antitrust damages actions have been growing significantly in Europe over the past few years. Private enforcement before the French civil courts has developed as a result of new legislation, competition authorities' decisions and clarifications by the European Court of Justice. France is now a stronghold for private enforcement, and companies understand the opportunities but also the risks that this represents, since these actions for damages provide the victims of anti-competitive practices with the possibility of claiming significant damages from the perpetrators.

Our Competition team designed and wrote a Guide to provide companies and their legal departments with an overview of French case-law in this area, to identify a certain number of trends and to guide them on how to proceed, both in pre-litigation and litigation, and regardless of their status in the dispute (plaintiff or defendant).

It is structured around the main questions that companies must consider before initiating such litigation or, on the contrary, when they have to defend themselves.

In particular, this guide addresses the question of competent jurisdictions and the entities that can be sued, the question of limitation periods, and the definition of 'perpetrators' and 'victims' of anti-competitive practices, which has been considerably extended by European case-law in order to ensure that the right to compensation is enforced as effectively as possible. It will thus be increasingly frequent to see companies suing economic operators with whom they have no contractual links.

The issues of proof of damage and its quantum are also dealt with.

If you're interested to get more informations regarding this topic, please reach our Competition team who will answer your questions and and send you a copy of this Guide.