Case C-267/20 Volvo and DAF Trucks, Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (First Chamber) of 22 June 2022
This case note examines the important implications for private enforcement follow-on damages actions for infringements of EU competition law. In the Volvo and DAF Trucks ruling the CJEU has clarified a number of the key provisions of the Damages Directive that urgently required clarification given the pressures on national courts faced with increasing numbers of follow-on damages claims. It is significant ruling because it provides national courts with clear guidelines on the limitation periods and the essential information elements required by claimants for bringing actions, the temporal application of substantive and procedural provisions, as well as their definition, and confirmed that parties injured by a cartel do not have to prove the harm resulting from the infringement. Harm is presumed once an infringement as confirmed by public enforcers has taken place.