The Direct Effect of EU Competition Law: From Regulation No 1/2003 to Directive 2014/104/EU

Abstract

This chapter addresses the study of the direct application of Competition Law at European level, as well as the problems that have arisen in practice. The importance of the principle of direct effect of Community legislation, the cornerstone on which European Competition Law is based, is of particular interest. We must not forget that the development of the protective rules of free Competition is at the origin of the European Union, since the Treaty of Rome of 1957. After a brief introduction on the Regulation and the background of private enforcement of Competition Law, the legislative context will be examined. This context will show how Community Law recognises the direct applicability of Competition rules to relations between individuals. These legal texts are mainly Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 of 16 December 2002 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 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.