1. AEDC welcomes the opportunity to comment on the European Commission´s «Draft Guidelines for national courts on how to estimate the share of overcharge which was passed on to the indirect purchaser» (the «Guidelines»).

2. AEDC’s observations have been provided by lawyers, economists and academics, all specialists in the competition law field. These observations do not necessarily represent the views of all the members of the Association.

3. The Guidelines intend to provide national courts and other stakeholders in damages actions for infringements of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union («TFEU») with practical guidance on how to estimate the passing-on of overcharges.

4. While the Guidelines are in general terms welcome, certain aspects deserve clarification.

5. AEDC’s observations follow the order of the Guidelines: (1) Introduction; (2) Legal Framework; (3) Economic theory of passing on; and (4) Quantification of passing-on related price and volume effect. The observations also include a reference to the specific section and/or paragraph for which suggestions are made.

Work Group

AEDC would like to thank the following individuals for their collaboration in drafting these observations: Rais Amils; Enrique Cañizares; Andrea Diez de Uré; Iñigo Igartua; Belén Irisarry; Patricia Liñán; Luis Loras; Xavier Mas; Soledad Pereiras; Valerio Sodano; Candela Sotés; Claudia Valdés; Ainhoa Veiga; and Elena Zoido.