European Court of Justice ruled: Special vehicles such as waste collection trucks are also subject to the truck cartel

Published August 4, 2022

On 01 August 2022, the ECJ clarified that refuse collection trucks and other special vehicles are to be included in the compensation under the truck cartel in the same way as other trucks.

The Court thus followed the Advocate General’s Opinion (Case C-588/20, Landkreis Northeim) and rejected all objections raised by the cartelists.

The truck makers wanted a declaration that lorries with special bodies were not entitled to compensation.

Conversely, the First Chamber of the ECJ ruled that refuse collection vehicles and other special vehicles such as concrete mixers, tipper chassis and flatbed chassis are considered part of the vehicles covered by the truck cartel.

The ECJ’s case law thus remains very much in favour of the claimants, as the defendants’efforts to narrow down the Commission’s decision continue to fail.

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Recent developments

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