The Economic Continuity Test in Private Enforcement of Competition Law - the ECJ’s Judgment in Skanska Industrial Solutions C-724/17

The paper discusses the Court of Justice preliminary ruling in Vantaan v Skanska Industrial Solutions (C-724/17). The judgment of the European Court of Justice picks up upon three major questions, which are of the highest importance for the private enforcement of competition law in Europe: 1. the function of private enforcement of competition law, 2. the determination of the persons liable to pay compensation as a matter of EU law and 3. the application of the economic continuity test in private enforcement of competition law. The Court held that companies cannot use corporate restructuring to escape their liability for cartel damages. Thus, the Court is effectively applying the concept of 'undertaking' and the economic continuity test known from settled fining case law in a civil litigation context