PORTUGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: José Luís da Cruz Vilaça and Mariana Tavares, Antas da Cunha Ecija
cations. In long-running cartels where purchases are spread over many years, calculating inter - est from each overcharge date can significantly increase the total damages claim. Defendants should factor this into settlement calculations and litigation-reserve assessments. • Easier early disclosure : Following the Meliá Hotels ruling, claimants will be more confident in seek - ing pre-action disclosure under a low plausibility threshold. Defendants should anticipate earlier engagement with disclosure obligations and prepare document management strategies accord - ingly.
The antitrust litigation landscape in Portugal is likely to remain an important consideration for businesses facing competition law exposure. The combination of an expanding private enforcement framework, active collective redress mechanisms, litigation funding, and developments at EU and national levels means that potential claims may have significant financial and procedural implications. Therefore, Portugal should be considered as part of any multinational company’s broader European competition litigation risk assess - ment. For practitioners, monitoring the interaction between evolving CJEU case law and Portuguese procedural rules will be important, particularly as the courts continue to clarify the scope of collective redress, disclosure and damages claims.
138 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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