EC Launches Antitrust Probes of Amazon

Amazon may have violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets, the European Commission said Tuesday. It's concerned that large quantities of nonpublic seller data are being made available to employees of Amazon's retail business, allowing the data to be aggregated and used to calibrate detail offers and strategic business decisions to the detriment of rivals. The EC's preliminary view is that use of nonpublic marketplace seller data lets Amazon avoid the normal risks of retail competition and leverage its market dominance in France and Germany, the two biggest EU markets. The EC began a second investigation into business practices it said might artificially favor Amazon's own retail offers and those of sellers who use its logistics and delivery services. It's looking at whether criteria for enabling sellers to offer products to Prime users under the Prime loyalty program leads to preferential treatment of Amazon's or those sellers' retail businesses. Amazon "disagrees 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, a spokesperson said. "No company cares more about small businesses or has done more to support them over the past two decades" Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Alex Petros urged U.S. policymakers to "look to the Commission as a model for aggressively working to address these serious concerns" and to create a digital regulator for oversight of platform markets. The antitrust case is "trade protectionism by another name," said Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ryan Young. "Amazon has made retail more competitive," with third-party seller services giving smaller businesses access to a global market they didn't previously have. Meanwhile, traditional large retailers such as Walmart and grocery stores have expanded their online options to compete against Amazon, he said.