Meliá will now be required to produce a large number of evidence which will allow Ius to determine and prove that Portuguese consumers were harmed by Melia’s anticompetitive practices declared by the European Commission.
This is the first time such an action has been successful in Portugal. It is a historical step towards ensuring effective consumer protection.
The Appeal Court criticized Melia’s attitude in the case and said it “hopes that the type of defence and arguments used by the Defendant and its resistance in complying with its duty of disclosure become less and less common with the normalization and frequency of antitrust private enforcement and with the acceptance of the importance of protecting the true actors of the economy damaged by anticompetitive practices”.
You can read more about the case here.