Abstract

On December 11, 2007, the European Court of Justice ruled on a case relating to the liability of the successor undertaking for infringement of competition law committed prior to a sale of business and the privatization of the company. According to the European judges, the principle of personal responsibility does not preclude the penalty for an infringement imposed by a national competition authority from being passed on in its entirety from one entity to another that succeeds it, even though the first entity is still in existence. The essay critically examines the grounds of the Court's decision, giving a broad outline of the decisions of the Commission and of the European Courts on the complex issue of succession of liability for competition law violations.