Pilot field study on the functioning of the national judicial systems for the application of competition law rules – DG Justice under Multiple Framework Contract – JUST/2011/EVAL/01 – Submitted by ICF GHK, in association with Milieu Ltd – Date: 17 March 2014
Purpose, scope and structure of the study
This assignment concerns a pilot field study on the functioning of the national judicial
systems for the application of EU antitrust law rules (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU). It
constitutes one of a series of targeted field studies announced by the Commission on how the judicial systems in Member States function in practice when applying selected growthrelated EU legislation.
The pilot study ran from mid-October 2013 until mid-March 2014.
The overall objective of the pilot study is to provide further information on the functioning of the national judicial systems for the application of EU antitrust law rules – which is to feature in the next edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard.
The specific objectives of the pilot field study, as set out in the Terms of Reference, are:
■ To collect data on the functioning of the national judicial systems in the application of EU competition law rules, in particular on the number of incoming, pending and resolved
cases in which Articles 101 and 102 TFEU have been applied, as well as the duration /
length of proceedings per instance;
■ To gather the views of a representative group of stakeholders on the functioning of the
national judicial systems, in particular with regard to their efficiency, quality and
independence when applying EU competition rules. The feedback should be collected
from parties, practitioners and judges who have been involved in both follow-on actions
and/ or judicial review of decisions adopted by the national competition authorities
(NCAs), as well as representatives of consumers, professionals and businesses, and
■ On the basis of the above, to identify trends in practices and recurrent problems in the
functioning of the national judicial systems for the application of EU antitrust law rules in
the Member States.
The study covered the following cases concerning decisions taken by national competition cases / the European Commission based on EU antitrust law rules:
■ Cases of public enforcement (judicial review of decisions taken by national competition authorities covering one or two instances, where applicable); and
■ Cases of follow-on private enforcement of competition rules further to decisions of the
European Commission or of national competition authorities (covering all instances of
review).
Cases where national courts acted as national competition authorities and stand-alone
private enforcement actions were not reviewed, nor did the study cover cases in which
national competition authorities applied national competition rules having a similar purpose to that of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU but without applying in parallel the corresponding TFEU rules.
This pilot field study covers the situation in all 28 Member States. The assignment identifies – in as far as possible – a complete list of the cases per Member State before national courts in which Articles 101 and 102 TFEU have been applied between 1 May 2004 and 1 June 2013.
Symposium