Record number of commercial and business disputes sent to Luxembourg

A record number of commercial- and business-related disputes were sent to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year.

Research by Thomson Reuters found that there were 423 disputes sent to the court in 2015, a 20 per cent increase from 352 in 2014.

There was a 74 per cent increase in competition cases from 23 in 2014 to 40 in 2015, and a 87 per cent increase in intellectual and industrial property cases from 47 in 2014 to 88 in 2015.

Professor Laurence Gormley, professor of European Law at the University of Groningen, said: “The European Commission has been going through a more active period in terms of competition investigations, creating more cases for the ECJ.

“One area of particular attention is the internet sector where there is a strong tendency for markets to develop into monopolies. Google and Amazon are just two players on which the EC has set its sights.”

Thomson Reuters said it believed economic recovery has brought more financial firepower to many businesses to pursue claims all the way to the ECJ, which can be extremely expensive and time-consuming.

However, it also highlighted that the Brexit vote has brought into question the access of UK businesses and individuals to the ECJ to resolve legal disputes, pursue damages or challenge government decisions that might impact their profitability.