For the first time in Portugal, a company has been required to allow access to confidential documents needed to assess and prove the existence of a right to damages for anticompetitive practices (exclusively for this purpose).
Hotel chain Meliá confessed and was the addressee of a European Commission Decision for restricting competition in the sale of stays at its hotels.
The Decision of the European Commission was very succinct and did not allow to grasp if and how consumers were injured.
To this day, Meliá has paid no compensation. Companies have escaped paying damages in these cases because, even when fines are applied, consumers cannot have access to the information they need to understand they were injured and to prove it in court.
Yesterday’s decision by the Competition Court (not yet final) is a first step to change this reality.
Little by little, we will achieve a real and effective Justice for All.