Damages’ Claims in the Spanish Sugar Cartel

As an example of collusive behaviour in the sugar industry, this paper looks at the Spanish sugar cartel, uncovered and sanctioned by the Spanish competition authority. It then turns into the subsequent private enforcement actions that concluded successfully last year with a €5 million award in damages by the Supreme Court. Several lessons can be extracted from the Supreme Court's decisions that will have an impact in future private claims for damages arising from competition law violations. They clarify the relevance and legal force of public enforcement decisions for private enforcement, how damages' calculations should be done, and how expert forensic opinions on the matter should be assessed by the courts and, finally, they rule on the availability of the passing-on defence. In all, the Spanish Supreme Court dicta from its decisions in the sugar cartel case may well open the gateway for new private claims in the future