Just as Google dominates the search engines, Amazon is the king of online sales. The company fills a dual role: It sells its own goods and provides a platform for retailers. The Commission now has reasonable suspicions that Amazon is using merchants' business data for its own business. The Commission has notified the company of this suspicion and is thus initiating proceedings against the infringement of EU antitrust rules. Our Newsletter will report on this.
In Germany, the reform of the Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen) came into force on 19 January 2021; according to this, the German antitrust authorities will also be able to take more effective action against possible competition violations by Amazon, Google and Facebook in the future. This could also ensure that Amazon does not offer its own products on its platform in preference to those of competitors.