2017 brings about a seismic shift in private antitrust
enforcement in many EU countries including Poland. This is the
result of EU Directive 2014/104/EU on antitrust damage actions
which is being implemented in Poland by adopting the Act of 21
April, 2017 on claims for compensation for damage caused by
competition law infringements, which came into force on 27 June
2017.
Under the new law, private enforcement can be sought by any entity
which suffered loss as a result of an infringement of competition
law, regardless of whether it is a direct or indirect purchaser of
a product or service. The injured party has the possibility to
claim full compensation, that is both damnum emergens and
lucrum cessans. The claimant can now request access to the
documents of the company suspected of a breach of the antitrust
regulations, provided that such a request meets the proportionality
rule.
