Swedish truck makers Volvo and Paccar’s DAF Trucks could be sued by Spanish plaintiffs for compensation over the truck maker’s cartel, the European Supreme Court said Wednesday.
Both Daimler and Iveco of Italy were fined a record € 2.9 billion in 2016 for price-fixing and coordination of the introduction of new emission technologies.
The EU competition watchdog said the cartel lasted from 1997 to 2011. Volvo was fined € 675.45 million and DAF trucks were fined € 725.68 million.
AB Volvo and DAF Trucks were subsequently sued in a Spanish court for damages in 2018 and ordered the company to pay the plaintiffs who purchased the three trucks. The judge has set compensation for 15 percent of the vehicle’s purchase price.
Time limit claim
The truck maker has appealed the judgment, claiming that the claim has a time limit due to a five-year time limit under Spanish law to replace the EU damages directive with that country’s law. did.
A Spanish court sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU stated that the claim was on time.
The ruling could provoke German plaintiffs in similar circumstances, said Anne Christine Richter, deputy managing partner of law firm Housefeld, who filed claims against various cartels.
“This ruling is very important for Truck’s cartel damages proceedings in Germany, as it postpones the overall limit by one year,” she said.
“So far, the general view was that the statute of limitations under German law had already expired, but this ruling means that you can make a claim in Germany for several months,” Richter said. Says. -Reuters
