Cartels & Leniency 2020

1. THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK OF THE CARTEL PROHIBITION

1.1 What is the legal basis and general nature of the cartel prohibition, e.g. is it civil and/or criminal?

The Competition Act of 23 October 2011 ("loi du 23 octobre 2011 relative à la concurrence"). The general nature of the cartel prohibition is administrative (with the potential imposition of administrative fines). Of course, the cartel prohibition has also civil aspects as arrangements and practices (potentially agreements) which are contrary to this prohibition are automatically null and void and of course can lead to damages claims (which are facilitated by the Competition Damages Actions Act of 5 December 2016 ("Loi du 5 décembre 2016 relative à certaines règles régissant les actions en dommages et intérêts pour les violations du droit de la concurrence") implementing Directive 2014/104/EU on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law