Nya EU-regler för att få skadestånd från karteller

Idag leder var fjärde kartellärende till skadestånd. Därför står jag helt bakom kommissionens mål att öka möjligheten för de som drabbats av karteller att också få ersättning - oavsett var i ledet man befinner sig.

Vi måste säkerställa att konsumenter som handlar på den inre marknaden har bästa tänkbara möjlighet att försvara sig mot överprissättning, vårdslösa företag eller produktfel. Och det görs allra bäst genom en Europeisk grupptalan. Idag har 16 medlemsländer regler som möjliggöra grupptalan. Dessa kan vara alltför restriktiva eller verkningslösa, och därför krävs enhetliga regler på EU-nivå.

Som rapportör för inremarknadsutskottets yttrande hade jag gärna sett att grupptalan funnits med i direktivet, men det är ju upp till parlamentarikerna som tar vid i juli att driva frågan vidare.

New rules adopted on claiming damages from cartels Today MEPs voted through new rules on the ability of consumers and businesses to claim damages when harmed by an infringement of competition law. Key issues relate to disclosure of evidence and the binding effect of national decisions in other member states. The final agreement allows an exemption from disclosure of the leniency statement, that is, the document in which there is an admission of involvement in a cartel. However, the Parliament did negotiate some safeguard provisions. It was also agreed that a decision of a national competition authority would be binding over the courts in that member state, but not binding over the courts of other EU member states. Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs committee Sharon Bowles (LibDem, UK) said: "The Parliament was initially concerned about a generic principle of protecting leniency statements from disclosure, but accepted that opening these up would be detrimental to the work of the Commission in cartel detection. "This was a landmark agreement as the first co-decision procedure on competition policy, for which Commissioner Almunia should be given credit for responding to the Parliament's request. Under a very fast timeframe, we have finalised one of the most important pieces of consumer legislation in this mandate. "This should end the practice whereby cases are brought under certain jurisdictions because offending parties know they will get softer treatment." ALDE shadow rapporteur Olle Schmidt (Folkpartiet, Sweden) said: " Anti-competitive practices cause substantial harm to the EU's economy and affect the trust of consumers. High costs and procedural and legal obstacles discourage both private individuals and SMEs from exercising their rights. The new rules provide real and higher levels of redress for consumers and businesses that have been harmed by cartels and make it easier to claim damages, especially for those further down in the supply chain."