EC's Recommendation On Collective Redress Mechanisms

In June 2013, the European Commission (EC) adopted recommendation 2013/396/EU on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms.

Definition

The recommendation defines a collective redress as a "legal mechanism that ensures a possibility (i) to claim cessation of illegal behaviour", or (ii) "to claim compensation collectively by two or more natural or legal persons claiming to have been harmed in a mass harm situation or by an entity entitled to bring a representative action". The EC points out that collective redress needs to be clearly distinguished from the so-called "class actions" that are common in the US legal system.

Purpose

In particular, collective redress is aimed at facilitating access to justice in cases in which the losses at an individual level are rather low. The recommendation is based on the assumption that in such cases, the injured parties often would not consider it worthwhile pursuing an individual claim.