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Right to Full Compensation
Since the national rules of member states regarding actions for
antitrust damages are diverse throughout the EU, certain legal uncer-
tainty may occur for the parties involved in lawsuits for antitrust dam-
ages. In order to remedy this diversity, the Proposal for Directive
ensures that the infringement victims of the EU competition rules have
access to an effective mechanism for obtaining full compensation for
the harm they suffered.
As per Article 2 of the Proposal for Directive, anyone who has suf-
fered harm caused by an infringement of the EU or national competi-
tion law shall be able to claim full compensation for that harm.
The full compensation shall include compensation for actual loss
and for loss of profit, and payment of interest from the time the harm
occurred until the compensation for said harm has actually been paid.
Disclosure of Evidence
The claimants can face some difficulties in obtaining the necessary
evidence for damages lawsuits in competition cases where they must
establish a causality link between the infringement and the harm suf-
fered. Therefore, certain regulations have been introduced to remedy
these difficulties. Pursuant to Article 5 of the Proposal for Directive,
where a claimant presents reasonably available facts and evidence
showing plausible grounds that he has suffered harm caused by the
defendant’s infringement of competition law, national courts may
order the defendant or third party to disclose evidence.
Also, the Proposal for Directive ensures the opportunity to ask the
judge to order the claimant or a third party to disclose of evidence on
request of the defendant.
National courts of the member states are able to limit disclosure of
evidence when determining whether any disclosure requested by a
party is proportionate with the legitimate interests of the parties and
any third parties.
Limits on the Disclosure of Evidence
Pursuant to Article 6 of the Proposal for Directive, absolute pro-
tection is provided for two types of documents, which are: (i) the
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