European Union: Opened consultation on Amazon's commitments to address allegation of anti-competitive practices in the e-commerce sector

On 14 July 2022, the European Commission opened a public consultation on the commitments it has received from Amazon addressing the allegations of abuse of dominance in the online marketplace. The Commission opened the investigation alleging that Amazon is discriminating against third-party sellers that don’t use its logistic and delivery services and noted that the rules for “Buy Box” and “Prime” artificially favour its retail services. In order to address the allegations, Amazon issued several commitments. Firstly, the company noted that it will apply” equal treatment” to all its business users for the selection of the Buy Box winner and that it will display a second “Buy Box” for sellers of the same good that provide a different offer. Secondly, Amazon committed to changing its criteria and rules for the “Prime” qualification to ensure non-discriminatory treatment. Thirdly, Amazon noted that it will permit its Prime business users to select any logistic and delivery services provider. Finally, Amazon pledged not to use the performance data from third-party carriers for its delivery and delivery services. In case of non-compliance with the issued commitments, the Commission could issue a fine of up to 10 % of Amazon’s global turnover.