Class action developments in the Netherlands

Abstract

Currently, the European Union (EU) is grappling with the question of whether to consider mechanisms of collective redress as a remedy to the shortcomings of the enforcement of EU law that have become more pronounced with the enlargement of the EU. Although mechanisms for collective redress developed in most European Member States from the 1960s to the 1990s, this occurred at the individual, national level. The reason for these developmental differences can be found in the different historical circumstances that produced the various mechanisms, with the result that no coherent European framework exists and mechanisms differ widely from Member State to Member State.