Collective Redress – Categories of Loss and Legislative Options

Issues of collective redress remain amongst the most controversial in Europe. Considerations of the Directorate General for Competition (DJ Comp) and the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DJ Sanco) to introduce new legislation aimed at facilitating the enforcement of damage claims in cases involving a multitude of victims meet with considerable resistance. There is widespread fear that the Commission would intend to import the litigation culture known from the United States and despised by many Europeans. One major element characterizing the situation in the U.S. is the class action. This paper avoids taking sides with either the proponents or the opponents of the class action. Rather, it tries to rationalize the discussion and to devise remedies that fit their purpose and that may work in practice without overplaying in the other direction of over-enforcement or even disrupting the European style of civil litigation