On 11 November 2020, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment clarifying the ability of parties that settle European Commission (Commission) antitrust investigations to challenge the Commission’s findings in follow-on-damage actions. The judgment concerns an appeal relating to a preliminary issue arising in seven claims for damages following on from the 2016 Commission Trucks settlement decision (the Settlement Decision). The Court of Appeal held that the five truck manufacturers could not deny facts they had admitted in settling with the Commission – facts that were subsequently recorded in the Settlement Decision.
Please see our 7 December alert memo (No Reversing Allowed: Trucks Defendants in Follow-on Cases Required to Stand by Their Admissions to the Commission) for a detailed analysis of the judgment.