EU taking action against Amazon

Regulators file antitrust charges; second investigation is underway.

EuropeanUnion regulators LONDON— filed antitrust chargesTuesday against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using its access to data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform.

The EU’s executive Commission, the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, issued the charges after it started looking into the company two years ago. Adding to

Amazon’s regulatory headaches, the EU also opened a second investigation into whether the company favors product offers and merchants that use its own logistics and delivery system.

It’s the latest effort by Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition issues, to curb the power of big technology companies. She has slapped Google with antitrust fines totaling nearly $10 billion and opened twin antitrust investigations this summer into Apple. The U.S. has started taking a tougher line as well, suing Google this year for abusing its dominance in online search and advertising.

It’s not a problem that Amazon is big and successful but “our concern is very specific business conduct which appears to distort genuine competition,” Vestager said.

EUofficials focusedonthe company’s dual role as a marketplace and retailer. In addition to selling its own products, the U.S. company allows third-party retailers to sell their own goods through its site.

The commission took issue with Amazon’s systematic use of business data that it has exclusive access to, allowing it to avoid the normal risks of competition and leverage its dominance for e-commerce services in France and Germany, the company’s two biggest markets in the EU.

Amazon faces a possible fine of up to 10% of its annualworldwide revenue, which could amount to as much as $28 billion based on its 2019 earnings. The company rejected the accusations.

“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,” the company said in a statement, adding that it represents less than 1% of the global retail market and that there are bigger retailers in every country where it operates. Under EU rules, it can reply to the charges in writing and present its case in an oral hearing.

It could still be a while before a final decision as there are no legal deadlines for bringing anEU antitrust case to an end.