The Court of Justice of the European Union clarifies the requirements for accessing evidence prior to bringing an action for damages arising from a breach of competition law

1. Background

On 29 January 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) delivered its judgment (the “Judgment”) in Case C-286/24 (Meliá Hotels International), which ruled on three preliminary questions referred by the Supreme Court of Portugal concerning the interpretation of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union (the “Directive”).

The request for a preliminary ruling was made in the context of proceedings that arose from European Commission (the “Commission”) Decision C(2020) 893 final, adopted in Case AT.40528-Meliá (Holiday Pricing) (the “Decision”).

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