Annual Meeting of the Association of European Competition Law Judges

Zuzana Šabová, a judge of The Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic, attended the annual conference organized by the European Commission and the Association of European Judges for Economic Law in Trier on June 11 – 13, 2026, in Trier at the annual conference organized by the European Commission and the Association of European Competition Law Judges (AECLJ), which took place at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Academy of Law. The event was held under the auspices of the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht, a prominent association of lawyers and economists in the field of competition law in Germany, which brings together not only judges but also academics, law enforcement officials, and experts from the practice.

The AECLJ is an international nonprofit association registered in Luxembourg that brings together judges from across Europe, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, and the broader European Economic Area who handle competition law cases. With more than 300 members from over 30 countries, it serves as an important forum for judges to exchange information and experiences in the field of competition law. The aim of AECLI seminars is to promote cooperation among courts and the consistent application of European competition law, to facilitate the exchange of experiences and best practices among judges, and to contribute to the development of competition law and its effective enforcement.

The theme of this year’s session was the use of the mechanism for referring questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling. Advocate General Laila Medina presented the latest developments, trends, and recent CJEU decisions in this area. This was followed by individual panels dedicated to a more detailed discussion of public and private enforcement of European competition law, the relationship between unfair competition and competition law, and presentations of practical cases handled in various countries.

The preliminary ruling is a key tool for the uniform and effective enforcement of European competition law, with the aim of ensuring the functioning of the internal market. Member States vary in their use of this tool, with Spain, Italy, and Germany submitting the most questions in recent times. Among the areas addressed, the sports sector, the ne bis in idem principle, and access to unique facilities are the most prominent. Although the interpretation of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU in the context of public enforcement of competition law still predominates (52%), there is a noticeable increase in questions related to private enforcement of competition law, i.e., the pursuit of damages resulting from violations of European competition law (36%). The remaining questions concern the application of procedural rules (12%). Given that the European Commission currently resolves many cases through settlements—meaning that cases are no longer adjudicated by European courts—preliminary rulings are becoming an increasingly important tool for the development of European competition law.