A Spanish Court rules on private actions for damages derived from antitrust law infringements in the subscriber directory inquiries market (Conduit / Telefónica - Antena 3 / Spanish Football League)

Ever since the early seventies, the ECJ made it clear that European competition rules produce direct effects in relations between individuals and create subjective rights that have to be safeguarded by the national courts [1]. This reasoning permitted the CFI to admit that the Commission is entitled to reject a complaint for lack of sufficient Community interest, based, inter alia, on the possibility for the prejudiced parties to seek relief before a national court [2]. In addition, in accordance with well-established case-law, the national courts - whose task it is to apply provisions of EC law within their jurisdiction - must ensure that those rules take full effect and must protect the rights which they confer on individuals [3]. Accordingly, it was patent that private parties who had