Redress system should not be a lawyers' payday

In the past decade several EU member states have implemented laws which set the stage for a litigation-style culture on the American model to take root in Europe. The issue is urgent. The European Commission's directorate-general (DG) for competition is poised to issue a white paper on damages for breach of competition law which is expected to call for class or ‘collective' actions. The health and consumer protection DG has set a deadline of 3 March for responses to a separate consultation on consumer collective actions.