UK Government opts in to Class Actions

The UK Government announced proposals for reform of the private competition damages regime in the UK, proposing to increase the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) power and introduce an opt-out "collective action" scheme before the CAT (see here). The proposed changes are unlikely to come into force until 2015, at the earliest. Do the proposals herald a US-style class action culture in the UK, as some commentators predict, or will the safeguards proposed by the Government lead to more moderate results?