Inntrepreneur Pub Co v Crehan
An English court is not bound by a Commission decision about a different agreement when deciding whether a beer tie infringes competition law, and Mr Crehan's damages claim failed.
Facts
Mr Crehan, a tenant of two pubs, claimed damages from Inntrepreneur, the landlord, on the ground that the beer tie in his leases, which required him to buy beer from a particular brewery, infringed article 101, and had caused his business to fail. After the Court of Justice confirmed in Courage v Crehan that he could claim damages, the High Court held that the tie did not infringe article 101, because the market was not foreclosed. The Court of Appeal reversed this, holding that the judge should have followed decisions of the European Commission about similar beer ties of other brewers, and awarded damages.
Legal principle
The House of Lords allowed Inntrepreneur's appeal and restored the trial judge's decision. Lord Bingham said that the principle of sincere cooperation, which requires national courts to avoid decisions conflicting with decisions of the Commission, applies only where the Commission has adopted a decision concerning the same agreement or practice. The Commission's decisions about the beer ties of other brewers did not concern the same agreements, so the judge was entitled to reach his own conclusion on the evidence, and he had found that the market was not foreclosed. Mr Crehan's claim therefore failed, after many years of litigation.
Related cases on private enforcement and damages
- Courage Ltd v Crehan Case C-453/99, [2001] ECR I-6297
- Devenish Nutrition Ltd v Sanofi-Aventis SA [2008] EWCA Civ 1086, [2009] Ch 390
- Kone AG v ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG Case C-557/12, EU:C:2014:1317
- Le Patourel v BT Group plc [2024] CAT 76
- Manfredi v Lloyd Adriatico Assicurazioni SpA Joined Cases C-295/04 to C-298/04, [2006] ECR I-6619
- Merricks v Mastercard Inc [2020] UKSC 51
- Provimi Ltd v Aventis Animal Nutrition SA [2003] EWHC 961 (Comm)
- Royal Mail Group Ltd v DAF Trucks Ltd [2023] CAT 6
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