The German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has opened abuse proceedings against Amazon for practices related to the German marketplace amazon.de. This move comes not long after the European Commission initiated a preliminary investigation into Amazon's use of transaction data.
In both the German and the EU case, the competition concerns appear to be linked to Amazon being not only the largest online retailer but also the largest online marketplace for competing retailers. There are, however, important differences between the two investigations: While the Commission is looking at "exclusionary abuse," i.e. conduct hindering the competitive opportunities of its rivals, the FCO investigates potential "exploitative abuse," i.e. imposing conditions that are significantly more onerous for retailers using the marketplace than they would be in a competitive environment (see the FCO's press release).
The approach of the FCO is based on special features of German competition law, which facilitate proceedings against abuses of market power:
First, regarding the issue of market power, the German prohibition on abusive market conduct applies not only to companies with a dominant market position (as under EU law) but also to companies with "relative market power," which is a less demanding standard. A company has relative market power if small or medium-sized customers or suppliers are dependent on it and cannot reasonably switch to other companies for the supply or the sale of a particular type of goods or services. The FCO believes that Amazon may be dominant or may have relative market power because it functions as a "gatekeeper." In fact, Amazon has become so powerful in Germany that many retailers and manufacturers depend on the reach of its marketplace for their online sales.
Second, regarding the existence of abuse, the FCO suspects that Amazon is abusing its market position to the detriment of sellers active on its marketplace by imposing unfair terms and conditions. Here, the FCO relies on the case law of the German Supreme Court, which has decided that the use of unfair terms and conditions by a dominant firm can constitute an abuse – provided it is because of its dominance or relative market power that the firm is able to impose such terms and conditions. In other words: there must be a causal link between the firm's market power or dominance and the unfair terms and conditions. It is not yet clear how the FCO will establish such a link.
Regarding the terms and practices that will be scrutinized, the FCO has listed the following provisions as being potentially illegal:
- liability provisions
- choice of law and jurisdiction clauses
- rules on product reviews
- the non-transparent termination and blocking of sellers' accounts
- withholding or delaying payment
- clauses assigning rights to use the information material that a seller has to provide with regard to the products offered
- terms of business on pan-European dispatch
The FCO's Amazon investigation shows some similarities to its ongoing proceedings against Facebook (see our previous Blog post). Both cases are focused on the use of unfair terms and conditions. The FCO has said that it will issue its Facebook decision in early 2019. We expect that decision to set the direction for the Amazon investigation.
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