ANTITRUST | Private enforcement and limitation period: insights from the AG’s Opinion on case CP v. Nissan Iberia.

On 3 April 2025, Advocate General Laila Medina (“AG”) issued an opinion (“Opinion”) in case C‑21/24 (CP v Nissan Iberia S.A.), on the request for a preliminary ruling submitted in the context of a dispute concerning a “follow-on” action for antitrust damages for breach of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. In the Opinion, the AG focused on the limitation period for initiating antitrust damages actions. In this regard, the AG, referring to previous case law, stated that in the case of actions concerning decisions by the National Competition Authorities, the dies a quo of the limitation period must be determined at the moment when such decision becomes final, also because in that moment the injured party has access to information which is sufficiently reliable and useful to ensure legal certainty. The AG also remarked that the limitation period could not begin to run on the basis of just any official document containing the relevant information. Otherwise, the principle of the effectiveness of antitrust law would be undermined.

Newsletter n. 106 – April 2025