C series

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C/2024/3418

(Case C-605/21, Heureka Group (Online price comparison services))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Article 102 TFEU - Principle of effectiveness - Actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions - Directive 2014/104/EU - Late transposition of the directive - Temporal application - Article 10 - Limitation period - Detailed rules for the dies a quo - Cessation of the infringement - Knowledge of the information necessary for bringing an action for damages - Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the summary of the European Commission’s decision finding an infringement of the competition rules - Binding effect of a Commission decision that is not yet final - Suspension or interruption of the limitation period for the duration of the Commission’s investigation or until the date when its decision becomes final)

(C/2024/3418)

Language of the case: Czech

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Heureka Group a.s.

Defendant: Google LLC

Operative part of the judgment

Article 10 Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union, and Article 102 TFEU and the principle of effectiveness

must be interpreted as precluding national legislation, as interpreted by the relevant national courts, which lays down a three-year limitation period applicable to actions for damages in respect of continuing infringements of EU competition law rules and which:

starts to run, independently and separately for each partial occurrence of harm resulting from such an infringement, from the moment when the injured party knew, or could reasonably be expected to have known, of the fact that it had suffered that partial harm and the identity of the party liable to pay compensation for that harm, without the injured party having had knowledge of the fact that the behaviour concerned constituted an infringement of the competition rules and without that infringement having come to an end, and

may not be suspended or interrupted during the Commission’s investigation into such an infringement.

Furthermore, Article 10 of Directive 2014/104 also precludes such rules in so far as they do not provide for the limitation period to be suspended, at the very least, until one year after the date on which the decision finding that infringement has become final.

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ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3418/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)

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Language of the case: Czech