Competition
The European Commission is not liable to pay damages to MyTravel Group plc for prohibiting its acquisition of First Choice Holidays in 1999, the Court of First Instance (CFI) has ruled.
In MyTravel Group v Commission, the Commission knocked back the merger request from MyTravel (formerly Airtours) on the grounds that it would give the travel firm a collective dominant position in the UK short-haul foreign package holiday market. In June 2002 the CFI overruled the Commission’s decision, however, last week, the CFI rejected MyTravel’s claim for £517m in damages for the loss it claimed it suffered, due to the merger being banned.
CMS Cameron McKenna partner, Susan Hankey, says that with this decision, the CFI has reduced hopes of making it easier to claim damages from the Commission.
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