Amazon Agrees to Major Competition Concessions to Avoid Billion Dollar EU Fine

Amazon, while not totally sold on all of the Commission’s findings, appeared relieved to put the lurking investigations behind it.

“We are pleased that we have addressed the European Commission’s concerns and resolved these matters,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “While we continue to disagree with several of the preliminary conclusions the European Commission made, we have engaged constructively to ensure that we can continue to serve customers across Europe and support the 225,000 European small and medium sized businesses selling through our stores.”

The fine-free settlement decision likely comes as welcome news for Amazon, which is still reeling from the shock of a $1.3 billion fine imposed against it by Italian regulators last year. In that case, regulators alleged Amazon had provided special benefits to certain third-party merchants who agreed to use Amazon’s “Fulfillment by Amazon” warehouse and delivery system. As part of that anti-competitive partnership, Italy’s regulators alleged, Amazon would grant those select merchants access to Amazon Prime customers and certain sale events like Prime Day.

Over in the United Kingdom, Amazon also faces a potential $1 billion class action lawsuit which accuses the company of using its Buy Box space to direct customers towards its own self-branded items in addition. Similarly that suit alleges Amazon uses a, “secretive and self-favoring” algorithm to further prioritize its own in-house brands.

In the U.S. meanwhile, Amazon has so far managed to avoid the same major federal suits recently lodged against rival tech giants like Microsoft and Meta. Still, a Bloomberg report from earlier this year claimed The Federal Trade Commission was deepening its investigation into Amazon’s recent spree of multi-billion dollar acquisitions. Amazon’s alleged self-preferencing practices are regularly invoked by U.S. lawmakers still trying to pass meaningful antitrust legislation in Congress.

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