Private enforcement en derecho de la competencia¿“mito o realidad”?

Resumo

The main idea behind this Project is achieving a European procedural system or common frame that is able to avoid the different obstacles dealing with the national and cross border litigations. In this regard, this study does an approach to this topic through an area that is being thoroughly developed by the European Commission, that is, the private enforcement of the European Competition law. As far as we know, Competition law is one of the most important issues of the European Union policies. Until very recent public enforcement was predominating in this topic, that is, enforcement was undertaken by the European Commission and by specially entrusted authorities of the Member States: the National Competition Authorities. Nowadays the Commission´s policies are focused in the development and improvement of the private enforcement of the European competition law, but, what private enforcement of the competition law means? that is, briefly, the judicial application of the antitrust rules (101 and 102 articles of the TFUE) by the national courts of each European member state. Normally,through damages actions by the victims of the infringement of the competition rules. But, is it really an efficient system in the European Union? Could be a real device for a cross-borders litigations? Is it a procedural harmonisation through the backdoor?