On November 28, 2025, the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) issued rulings in cases ECLI:NL:HR:2025:1761 (and related, e.g., 1764), addressing follow-on damages claims against elevator manufacturers Kone and Otis stemming from the EU Commission’s 2007 decision fining a cartel in the elevators and escalators sector. Stichting De Glazen Lift (DGL), representing 40 housing corporations with ~7,000 elevators, sought declarations of liability for cartel overcharges during 1998-2004.[lexboost] Key Background The cartel involved five major firms (including Kone from 1999, Otis throughout) rigging bids, allocating markets, and exchanging sensitive info across Europe, including the Netherlands, leading to €992 million in fines. The Commission noted market effects like higher prices, though hard to quantify precisely.
The Court upheld the Hague Court of Appeal’s decisions, confirming Kone and Otis’s tortious liability under Dutch law (arts. 6:162, 6:166 BW) for damages plausibly caused by their cartel participation. It affirmed a price-increasing effect from the “single continuous infringement,” without needing per-transaction proof at this stage. For referral to damages quantification, claimants must show at least one direct/indirect transaction (purchase/maintenance/modernization) with a cartel member during the infringement period per assignor. Mere ownership of an elevator during that time is insufficient, as it might predate the cartel or involve non-cartelists; “umbrella pricing” was unproven.