Competition law increasingly needs to deal with contribution claims. Claims for antitrust damages are selectively brought forward against companies with vast financial assets or established in claimant-friendly jurisdictions. There is thus an emerging need for allocating liability internally among antitrust infringers. However, the ability to claim contribution in competition law cannot be taken for granted. In Texas Industries, the US Supreme Court was clear that such claims are not currently available in US antitrust law. The aim of the book is to explain how the issue of contribution is resolved in EU competition law.

Directive 2014/104/EU introduced special rules on joint and several for those engaged in consensual dispute resolution, immunity recipients and small and medium enterprises. The aim of this Chapter is to outline the liability regime for these entities. The assessment starts with the analysis of policy arguments and the search for the logic behind the special rules on joint and several liability. It is asked whether the special treatment of privileged groups is justified and whether the rules provided by Directive 2014/104/EU meet the envisioned aims. Subsequently, the assessment takes a pragmatic angle and it is asked how the special regimes of joint and several liability operate in practice and how they can be improved. The analysis shows that Directive 2014/104/EU insufficiently shields immunity recipients from an extensive private law liability and the rules on joint and several liability call the effectiveness of leniency programmes into question. The Directive’s rules on consensual dispute resolution are also flawed. Given that there is no clear legal benchmark for dividing antitrust liability, the settling parties are virtually unable to determine which settlement offer to make and they can end up overcompensating or being undercompensated.