Quantification of Damage in the EU

02 December 2020
Capabilities and Services

Competition law infringements such as cartels and abuses of dominant position cause economic harm to consumers and businesses. Victims of such infringements can seek compensation for damage suffered. Defendants, in addition to the fines imposed by the competition authorities, often face potentially enormous private damages claims. The efforts by the European Commission to bolster the private enforcement of competition law by encouraging more damages claims in Europe have contributed to an increase in such actions in European courts particularly in Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. In addition, there are an unknown number of confidential disputes outside court involving often substantial claims.

NERA has been involved in the quantification of damage supporting defendants and claimants in the US and the EU for many years. This includes extensive work on a wide range of international and national cartel damage cases, but is not restricted to cartel cases or competition cases only. In Europe in particular, NERA staff have worked on the quantification of damage in such contexts as the cartels in air cargo services, freight forwarding, cement, gas insulated switchgear, gas pipelines, liquid petroleum gas, rail tracks, roof tiles, sugar, coffee, automotive parts, chemicals, elevators and escalators, engineered wood products, as well as the manipulation of reference rates such as the LIBOR. NERA experts have taught European Commission-sponsored training seminars on quantification for judges in different jurisdictions, and have published on damage estimation in the context of US, European, and national law, as well as on the empirical tools underlying quantification. We have also been active in a wide range of international and national arbitration proceedings involving often substantial commercial disputes not relating to competition law violations.