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EU: European Parliament brings cartel victim bill closer to reality

By  |  April 23, 2014

The European Parliament has given its final approval for new legislation aimed at facilitating victims of cartel abuse in pursuing compensation for the damages, according to reports.

Consumers harmed by antitrust violations such as price-fixing or dominance abuse will now have greater access to information that may support their legal case against the perpetrators. According to the European Commission, the bill will hopefully improve the number of civil claims seeking damages from antitrust cases.

According to the regulator, only 25 percent of its cases in the last seven years were followed by civil claims.

The Commission first proposed the new rules last year. The bill’s last hurdle will be approval by the EU Council of Ministers.

EU member states have already informally backed the new rules, and will have two years to implement the law into their frameworks after they are approved by the Ministers.

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