Update on development of follow-on damages claims: 2000-2015

An update is now available on my January 2015 overview of the development of follow-on claims after European Commission cartel investigations!

In 2015, the Commission concluded four actions against horizontal agreements, imposing a total of 349m€ in fines.  The total is much lower than in the previous years. For example, in each of the years 2012-2014 fines were in excess of 1.6 billion €. In addition, the Commission handed down 14.9 million € in fines against a broker in the YIRD cartel. (In the figure, this has been added to the 2013 proceeding.)

Following appeals, the European Courts adjusted the fines in the CRT (2012), banana (North 2011 and South 2008), pre-stressing steel (2010), heat stabilisers (2009), and chloroprene rubber (2007) cartels. It remains to be seen what happens to the fine in the air freight cartel – for now the full amount of 790 m€ has been overturned by the General Court.

Companies again were active in claiming for damages in the UK. They lodged additional claims following the air freight and car class cartels and first claims were seen following the smartcard and power cable cartels. In addition, I added a claim from 2014 following from the refrigerator compressors cartel, which had been missing before. I could not identify any further follow-on claims from Commission cartel proceedings in any other European country.