1.

Article 5(1) of Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union

must be interpreted as applying to a prior action for access to evidence brought before an action for damages, within the meaning of point 4 of Article 2 of that directive, where national law provides for such a prior action.

2.

Article 5(1) of Directive 2014/104

must be interpreted as meaning that a decision of the European Commission finding an infringement of EU competition law in the form of a vertical restriction by object is not sufficient to establish the plausibility of a claim for damages, since that claim requires proof not only of the plausibility of such an infringement, as established by such a decision, but also of damage and of a causal link between that damage and that infringement. The fact that that decision was made at the end of a settlement procedure makes no difference to the answer to that question.

3.

Article 5(1) of Directive 2014/104

must be interpreted as meaning that, in order to demonstrate the plausibility of a claim for damages within the meaning of that provision, it is not necessary to establish that it is more likely than not that the conditions for liability for an infringement of competition law are met. It is sufficient for the claimant to demonstrate that the assumption that those conditions are met is reasonably acceptable.