Germany: Announced Bundeskartellamt investigation into Amazon's status as a company of paramount significance across markets

On 18 May 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) launched an investigation into Amazon for potentially abusing its power in various markets. The proceedings were enabled after Germany implemented new rules for large digital companies in the German Competition Act (GWB). Specifically, Section 19a enables the Bundeskartellamt to open investigations against companies "of paramount significance for competition across markets" more quickly and restrain companies from implementing anti-competitive behaviour. The Bundeskartellamt will now determine if Amazon can be defined as a company of "paramount significance for competition across markets" before launching further investigations.