Training of national judges in EU competition law

The European Union has launched a grant opportunity under the Single Market Programme, specifically the call SMP-COMP-2025-JUDG, aimed at enhancing the training of national judges in EU competition law. The initiative seeks to improve the implementation and consistent application of EU competition laws across member states, with a focus on antitrust rules and state aid regulations. The total budget for this grant in 2025 is €800,000, and applicants can seek funding for projects ranging from €30,000 to €300,000.

Eligible applicants include judicial training organizations, universities, research institutions, NGOs, and public bodies with expertise in EU competition law. Both individual and consortium applications are accepted, encouraging collaboration among entities involved in training judicial professionals. The geographical scope includes EU member states and possibly eligible EEA countries.

The training programs must cover specific thematic priorities, such as the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, procedural safeguards in enforcement, and the interaction between competition law and new developments in regulated industries and digital markets. Projects may involve organizing conferences, workshops, creation of training materials, and interactive seminars.

The application process is an open call with a single-stage submission, and proposals must be submitted by September 24, 2025. Co-funding may be expected, as projects are intended to be co-financed rather than fully funded by the EU.

While historical success rates in similar grants are not specified, it is noted that previous EU funding calls for judicial training have seen moderate competition among applicants. Each project must demonstrate added value at the EU level, indicating that the funding will enhance cooperation and judicial knowledge-sharing across member states.

Overall, this grant call aims to empower judges with relevant training to ensure a coherent application of EU competition law, thereby strengthening judicial practices and fostering network opportunities among judicial professionals in Europe.

The EU's Single Market Programme (SMP) has launched a call for proposals, SMP-COMP-2025-JUDG, aimed at co-financing projects that provide training to national judges in EU competition law. The call, titled "Training of National Judges in EU Competition Law," seeks to improve the consistent application of EU competition laws across member states, including State Aid rules. It also aims to strengthen cooperation and networking among judges to foster a coherent jurisprudence.

The call for proposals is for SMP Project Grants (SMP-PJG) and uses the SMP Action Grant Budget-Based [SMP-AG] model grant agreement. The call is currently open for submission with a single-stage deadline. The opening date was June 10, 2025, and the deadline for submission is September 24, 2025, at 17:00:00 Brussels time. The total budget allocated for this topic in 2025 is EUR 800,000.

The expected impacts of funded projects include:

Improved coherent and consistent application of EU competition laws by national courts in the member states, including State Aid rules through the number of national judges with increased knowledge and know-how.

Strengthened cooperation and networking possibilities among member states judges reached by the training and awareness raising activities in relation to commonly applicable EU competition laws. Enabling national judges to strive for a coherent jurisprudence when confronted with developments at the interface between competition law and new legal or economic developments.

The objective of this call is to co-finance projects that train national judges in enforcing European competition rules, encompassing both public and private enforcement of Antitrust and State aid regulations. The ultimate goal is to ensure a consistent application of EU competition law by national courts. Projects should focus on the role of national judges, their specific needs, work environments, and existing knowledge.

Projects must demonstrate EU added value, showing that Union funding brings additional benefits compared to individual Member State actions. The target audience includes national judges from eligible countries dealing with competition cases, as well as prosecutors, apprentice judges, and court staff. Training projects must address national judges from eligible countries to be within the scope of this call.

Projects should address at least one of the following thematic priorities, selecting a minimum number of topics under each:

Priority 1: Trainings on the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU and relevant secondary law. Applicants must choose at least 3 of the following 7 topics:

a) Scope of application of Article 101 (concept of undertaking, concept of agreement and concerted practice).

b) Restrictions of competition by object and effect under Article 101.

c) Concept of dominance (including market definition and market power analysis) under Article 102.

d) Exclusionary and exploitative abuses under Article 102.

e) Concept of effect on trade between Member States.

f) Block exemption and guidelines for vertical agreements.

g) Block exemptions and guidelines for horizontal cooperation agreements (including sustainability agreements).

Priority 2: Trainings focusing on procedural safeguards and the effective enforcement of EU competition law. Applicants must choose at least 2 of the following 4 topics:

a) Enforcement powers of national competition authorities (Articles 5, 22 Regulation 1/2003, Articles 6–23 ECN+ Directive).

b) Cooperation and mutual assistance between the Commission and national competition authorities (Articles 11, 12, 13, 22 Regulation 1/2003; Articles 24–29 ECN+ Directive).

c) Cooperation between the Commission and the national courts in Member States (Articles 6, 15 and 16 of Regulation 1/2003).

d) Procedural standards and fundamental right safeguards in competition law proceedings (Article 2 Regulation 1/2003, Articles 3, 6–12 ECN+ Directive and relevant case law by the EU Courts and the ECtHR).

Priority 3: Trainings focusing on national laws implementing Directive 2014/104 on antitrust damages actions. Applicants must choose at least 2 of the following 5 topics:

a) The disclosure of evidence in proceedings relating to an action for damages.

b) The passing on of overcharges and the interplay between damages actions relating to the same infringement but instituted by injured parties on different levels of the supply chain.

c) The quantification of antitrust harm in the framework of damages actions, including the application of the methods for quantification identified in the Commission's Practical Guide on the Quantification of Antitrust Harm.

d) The interaction between the public and the private enforcement of competition law, focusing on both the positive interaction (how can claimants and judges benefit from enforcement actions by competition authorities and can consult them) and measures to avoid negative interactions (for example limits on the disclosure of evidence and on joint and several liability that flow from the Damages Directive).

e) Case management and best practices in dealing with questions of jurisdiction and applicable law and in dealing with the situation of parallel or subsequent proceedings in different Member States.

Priority 4: Trainings focusing on underlying economic principles of competition law. Applicants are invited to choose at least one topic:

a) Economic principles and economic reasoning (e.g., supply and demand, cost analysis, substitution and strategic interactions in different competition environments, market definition, horizontal and vertically related markets, market power).

b) Assessment of economic evidence in antitrust cases (including market definition, market shares, cost measures and price-cost tests in exclusionary and exploitative abuse cases).

c) Assessment of economic evidence/studies in antitrust damages litigation and its procedural handling, including a review of currently used estimation methods (qualitative and quantitative), their underlying advantages and limits, as well as the importance of consistency, robustness and replicability of results.

Priority 5: Trainings focusing on the application of competition law in regulated industries (such as the energy, telecommunications, pharmaceutical sectors) and digital markets. Applicants are invited to choose at least one topic:

a) Scope of application of competition law in regulated sectors and interplay between competition law and sector-specific regulation, such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

b) Interplay between IP rights and competition law.

c) Market definition in regulated and digital industries (including two or multisided markets, zero price markets).

d) Assessment of market power and dominance in regulated industries and digital markets (including regulatory entry barriers, intellectual property rights, direct and indirect network effects, dynamic efficiencies, importance of access to data, single- and multi-homing).

e) Recent case law and decisional practice regarding regulated industries and digital markets.

Priority 6: Training on State Aid and the enforcement role of national courts. Applicants must include topic c and choose at least 1 additional topic (minimum 2 topics):

a) Notion of aid (including the rules on Services of General Economic interest).

b) The regulations establishing exemptions from the obligation to notify State aid measures to the Commission, i.e. mainly the De minimis Regulation and the General Block Exemption Regulation, including its 2023 revision to further facilitate and speed up the green and digital transition.

c) The role of national courts in implementing State aid law (based on the notice on the enforcement of State aid law by national courts and on the Recovery notice, as well as practical experiences from national jurisdictions). Particular attention should be paid to the use of cooperation tools available to national courts.

d) Main aspects of EU procedural rules (such as notification process before the European Commission) and principles on compatibility of State aid.

Funded activities must include tailored training activities on EU competition law, such as:

Conferences.

Interactive, practice-oriented seminars and workshops.

Joint study visits to EU courts.

Creation of training materials and tools for face-to-face training, blended learning or e-learning such as handbooks, manuals, train-the-trainer events, networking platforms, videos, podcasts, etc. in combination with the organisation of training activities listed above.

Trainings should be hands-on oriented, include case studies, refer to the relevant case law of the European Court of Justice and include an analysis of relevant EU jurisprudence. The training environment must be secure to allow free exchange of views and experiences among participants.

The admissibility conditions, eligible countries, other eligible conditions, financial and operational capacity, exclusion criteria, submission and evaluation processes, award criteria, scoring, thresholds, indicative timeline, and legal and financial setup are all described in the call document.

Applicants should use the standard proposal template (COMP) available in the Submission System and the detailed budget template (COMP). The SMP MGA model grant agreement will be used. Additional documents include SMP Work Programmes, SMP Regulation 2021/690, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

For help, applicants can contact COMP-TRAINING-JUDGES@ec.europa.eu, consult the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, contact the IT Helpdesk, use the Online Manual, or contact the Intellectual Property Helpdesk.

In summary, this call for proposals aims to enhance the expertise of national judges in EU competition law through co-financed training projects. These projects should focus on practical, hands-on training, covering various thematic priorities and contributing to a more consistent and coherent application of EU competition laws across Member States. The call encourages the use of diverse training methods and materials, ensuring a secure and collaborative learning environment for the participating judges. The overall budget for this call is EUR 800,000, and the submission deadline is September 24, 2025.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly defined in the provided text. However, based on the objective of training national judges, eligible applicants could include universities, research institutes, judicial training organizations, public entities, and potentially NGOs with expertise in EU competition law and judicial training. The call is for proposals to co-finance projects, suggesting that the applicants are organizations capable of managing and implementing such projects.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically an SMP Project Grant (SMP-PJG) and SMP Action Grant Budget-Based [SMP-AG]. The call aims to co-finance projects, indicating that the funding is provided as a grant to support the implementation of the proposed activities.

Consortium Requirement: The text does not explicitly state whether a consortium is required or if a single applicant is sufficient. The nature of the projects, which involve training and potentially the creation of training materials, suggests that both single applicants and consortia could be eligible, depending on the scope and complexity of the proposed project.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is limited to "eligible countries," as stated in the call document. The eligible countries are not specified in the provided text but are referenced in section 6 of the call document. It is implied that these are EU member states or countries closely associated with the EU legal framework.

Target Sector: The target sector is law, specifically EU competition law, antitrust rules, and state aid rules. The program targets the training of national judges, prosecutors, apprentice national judges, and staff of national courts in these areas of law.

Mentioned Countries: The text does not explicitly mention specific countries. However, it refers to "member states" and "eligible countries," implying that the opportunity is targeted towards EU member states and potentially other countries associated with the EU legal framework.

Project Stage: The project stage is training and knowledge transfer. The call focuses on co-financing projects that aim to train national judges and related staff, indicating that the projects should be at the implementation stage, ready to deliver training activities.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic SMP-COMP-2025-JUDG is EUR 800,000. The indicative number of grants is not specified in the provided text.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by the "Open For Submission" status. The call is a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant to co-finance their projects. The support is financial, intended to cover the costs associated with organizing and delivering the training activities.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage, meaning applicants submit a full proposal in one go.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The call is for "co-financing projects," which implies that co-funding from the applicant or other parties is required. The extent of the co-funding requirement is not specified in the provided text.

Summary: This call for proposals, SMP-COMP-2025-JUDG, under the Single Market Programme (SMP), aims to co-finance projects that provide training to national judges, prosecutors, apprentice national judges, and staff of national courts in EU competition law, antitrust rules, and state aid rules. The goal is to improve the coherent and consistent application of EU competition laws across member states and strengthen cooperation among judges. The call is open for submission with a deadline of September 24, 2025. The total budget for the topic is EUR 800,000. Projects must meet specific objectives and demonstrate EU added-value by focusing on the role of national judges and their training needs. Applicants must choose topics from thematic priorities, including the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, procedural safeguards, national laws implementing Directive 2014/104, economic principles of competition law, application of competition law in regulated industries and digital markets, and state aid. Activities that can be funded include conferences, seminars, workshops, study visits, and the creation of training materials. The application process is single-stage and requires applicants to submit a full proposal. The call emphasizes hands-on training, case studies, and reference to relevant EU jurisprudence.