The German Federal Cartel Office, Bundeskartellamt, said it has opened another proceeding against Amazon based on new competition rules that apply to large digital companies. The regulator is examining potential anti-competitive practices and the overall market position of Amazon.
Under the latest amendment to the German Competition Act (GWB Digitalisation Act), the cartel authority can forbid certain anti-competitive practices by large digital companies considered key to markets. Examples of conduct which could be prohibited under the new provision include the self-preferencing of a group’s own services, entering new markets through anti-competitive means such as tying or bundling strategies, or creating barriers to market entry through the collection of data relevant for competition.
The Bundeskartellamt is already conducting two other proceedings against Amazon based on rules already in place before the latest legislation. The authority is examining to what extent Amazon is influencing the pricing of sellers on Amazon Marketplace by means of price control mechanisms and algorithms in one proceeding. In another, it is examining to what extent agreements between Amazon and brand manufacturers, including Apple, exclude third-party sellers from selling brand products on Amazon Marketplace, violating competition rules.
