Competition Law in Italy The first 20 years of law and practice

standing to file a class action with the competent Court. 606 The latter, at the end of the first
hearing, has to decide whether all conditions for the certification of the class are met. 607 If
the class action is certified (i.e., admitted), a notice about the lawsuit is made public and all
consumers or users who claim to have a right identical and homogeneous to that for which
the class has been established can join it. The opt-in declaration is to be filed with the
register of the competent Court within a certain time. 608
Consumers and users who opt-in do
not assume the role of parties to the proceeding and, as such, do not have any procedural
power. If the Court eventually finds that the class action is well founded, it will condemn the
defendant to pay a certain sum to each member of the class or, alternatively, establish the
criteria on the basis of which these sums are to be calculated and then liquidated.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that, pursuant to Articles 139 and 140 of the Italian
Consumer Code, consumer associations which are registered with the Ministry for
Productive Activities have standing to request (i) cease-and-desist orders against certain
conduct that may harm consumer interests as well as (ii) appropriate measures for correcting
or eliminating the detrimental effects thereof. However, it is not clear whether such orders
and measures may also be sought in relation to anticompetitive conduct.
J. Jurisdiction
1. Extraterritorial Application of Law
To the extent that the anticompetitive conduct taking place outside Italy has effects
within the Italian territory or a substantial part of it, such conduct falls within the scope of
the Competition Law and, possibly, Article 101 TFEU, if it affects trade between Member
States. As a consequence, such conduct may be investigated and sanctioned by the
Competition Authority.
The Competition Law arguably is not applicable to companies established in Italy that
engage in cartel conduct affecting only foreign trade, including where the anticompetitive
agreements or practices take place within the domestic territory.
2. International Agreements & Cooperation
Italy is not party to any treaty or international agreement concerning the territorial scope
of the application of its competition laws or the cooperation of the Competition Authority’s
powers with those of enforcement agencies of countries other than those of the European
Union.
606
The class action can be submitted by the consumer or user also through (i) committees of which he is
member as well as (ii) associations.
607
The class action can be rejected by the Court for a number of reasons: for instance, when the
consumer or user who has filed it has interests conflicting with those of the proposed class or does
not seem to be able to protect adequately the class’ interests.
608
The opt is not mandatory: individuals can decide not to join the class and file a separate lawsuit on
their own.
166