Training of national judges in EU competition law

“Training of national judges in EU competition law - EU COMPETITION LAW ENFORCEMENT BY NATIONAL COURTS is an European project funded by the European Commission. The purpose of the Commission is to contribute to a proper implementation of Competition Law from the European Union.

Key Objectives:
The project intends to give national judges a detailed knowledge on EU Competition Law (antitrust rules, state aid rules and private enforcement).

The project aimed to ensure coherent and consistent application by national courts of European competition rules, including articles 101 and 102 TFEU (antitrust rules), state aid rules (articles 107 and 108 TFEU) and private enforcement, as well as to improve mutual understanding among national judges and prosecutors of the Member States involved.

Furthermore, it encompassed specific training needs, focusing namely on the role of judges in the application of EU competition law. Advanced training included specific issues related to article 102 TFEU – the need for a (economic) test on anticompetitive abuses of dominance and the remedies which should apply in those cases –, private antitrust enforcement – namely the issue of quantification of harm – and state aid rules, through workshops and case-study method conducted by leading legal practitioners and economists. Training activities involved judges with a large experience in competition cases who also collaborate with the Competition Law Enforcement Observatory (http://www.direito.ceid.porto.ucp.pt/en/EU-law-observatory ).