Consumer compensation and private antitrust enforcement in the U.K. – setting a trend for Europe?

By Sebastian Peyer

In 2015, the U.K. government introduced opt-out group actions for claims based on breaches of competition law. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets out the details of the new class action regime and also introduces the opportunity for undertakings to set up a voluntary consumer redress scheme. These legal innovations in one of the larger economies in the EU may well encourage other Member States to become more adventurous too.