European Commission launches investigation against Amazon
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European Commission has initiated proceedings against the Amazon concern. The issue of a legal dispute is the allegation of violating the principles of fair competition on the online sales market, which is the main area of the company's activity, the Associated Press agency reported. According to AP, the Commission is accusing the global e-commerce giant of using non-public business data of independent sellers using Amazon's platform in order to gain a competitive advantage over them. The European Commission has reservations about Amazon's activities in France and Germany, the two largest EU markets.
In addition to selling their own products, Amazon allows third-party sellers to sell their own goods through its website. In the opinion of the European Commission, it is the practices related to the use of external sellers' data that distorts fair competition.
If the allegations are confirmed, Amazon may be fined up to 10 percent of annual revenue. In 2019, Amazon recorded over $280 billion in revenues.
"We disagree with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts. Amazon represents less than 1 percent of the global retail market, and there are larger retailers in every country in which we operate. No company cares more about small businesses or has done more to support them over the past two decades than Amazon. There are more than 150,000 European businesses selling through our stores that generate tens of billions of Euros in revenues annually and have created hundreds of thousands of jobs," the Amazon Press Ofice stated.
The EC has also launched a second investigation into the company's online trading practices – the EU authority has doubts that Amazon does not favor its own products at the expense of those from third-party sellers who use its logistics and delivery services.
