Any natural or legal person that has suffered harm caused by an infringement of competition law (a cartel, a restrictive agreement and/or an abuse of dominant position) has the right to claim full compensation for that harm.
The law of 6 June 2017 inserting “the action for damages for infringements of competition law” in Title 3 of Book XVII of the Code of Economic Law provides the legal framework that is applicable to these claims and fosters them.
By this law, that entered into force on 22 June 2017, Belgium transposed the Directive 2014/104/EU on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union.
In application of this regulatory framework, infringements found by the Belgian competition authority are deemed to be irrefutably established and it is presumed that cartel infringements cause harm (except if the cartelist manages to rebut this presumption). In addition, the judge has broad powers to order the disclosure of evidence, including certain documents included in the file of a competition authority. Finally, co-authors are in principle jointly and severally liable for the harm caused. The injured party thus has the right to require full compensation from any of them.
It is worth noting that the Law of 6 June 2017 is also applicable to collective actions filed in application of Title 2 of Book XVII of the Code of Economic Law.
The French version of the Law of 6 June 2017 is available here.
The Dutch version of the Law of 6 June 2017 is available here.
Do not hesitate to contact Pierre de Bandt or Astrid de Bandt if you would like more information about the interpretation or application of the Law of 6 June 2017.