The Commission has decided to close its antitrust investigation into Apple’s allegedly anti-competitive behaviour in some of the terms it applies to developers of competing e-book/audiobook apps for the use of its App Store in the European Economic Area. On 16 June 2020, the Commission opened an antitrust investigation into (i) Apple’s rules imposing mandatory […]
Commission publishes findings of evaluation of EU antitrust enforcement framework
The European Commission yesterday published a Commission Staff Working Document summarising the findings of the evaluation of the EU Regulations laying down the procedures for the application of the EU competition rules(Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004, together the “Regulations”). The Regulations establish the procedural framework for the application of the EU competition rules laid down […]
EU and US hold fourth Joint Dialogue on Technology Competition Policy
Today, European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, US Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’) Chair Lina Khan and the Assistant Attorney General of the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (‘DOJ’) Jonathan Kanter met in Washington for the fourth meeting of the EU-US Joint Technology Competition Policy Dialogue (‘TCPD’). The purpose of the dialogue is to further […]
Commission fines Apple over €1.8 billion over abusive App store rules for music streaming providers
The European Commission has fined Apple over €1.8 billion for abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users (‘iOS users’) through its App Store. In particular, the Commission found that Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative […]
Commission re-imposes €376.36 million fine on Intel for anticompetitive practices in the market for computer chips
The European Commission has re-imposed a fine of around €376.36 million on Intel for a previously established abuse of dominant position in the market for computer chips called x86 central processing units (‘CPUs’). Intel engaged in a series of anticompetitive practices aimed at excluding competitors from the relevant market in breach of EU antitrust rules. […]
Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by Microsoft regarding Teams
The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing. Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration […]
European Commission launches unannounced inspections at premises of fashion companies
On 18 April 2023, the European Commission has started unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the fashion industry in several Member States. In parallel, the Commission has sent out formal requests for information to companies active in the same sector. The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated EU […]
Antitrust: Commission accepts commitments by Amazon
The European Commission has made commitments offered by Amazon legally binding under EU antitrust rules. Amazon’s commitments address the Commission’s competition concerns over Amazon’s use of non-public marketplace seller data and over a possible bias in granting to sellers access to its Buy Box and its Prime programme. The Commission’s concerns In July 2019, the […]
Antitrust: Commission seeks feedback on commitments offered by Amazon concerning marketplace seller data and access to Buy Box and Prime
The European Commission invites comments on commitments offered by Amazon to address competition concerns over its use of non-public marketplace seller data and over a possible bias in granting sellers access to its Buy Box and its Prime programme. The Commission’s investigations Amazon is a data-driven company whose retail decisions are for most driven by automated systems, […]