Amazon offers concessions to close EU antitrust probes

Amazon has offered to stop using the huge troves of data it gathers from third-party sellers to benefit its own retail business as part of a deal with Brussels to end two of the most high-profile EU antitrust probes.

The US tech giant will also increase the visibility of rival products by giving them equal treatment when posting their offers on Amazon’s “buy box”, which generates the majority of purchases on the site.

The proposed deal comes three years after EU regulators opened a probe into Amazon’s alleged anti-competitive practices in how it handles data from competitors.

The European Commission on Thursday said it would now seek the view of Amazon’s rivals on the commitments before it makes a final decision on accepting the proposed deal. Rivals have until September 9 to respond.

Amazon said that although it disagreed with several of the investigation’s conclusions, it had “engaged constructively with the Commission to address their concerns and preserve our ability to serve European customers”.

As part of the deal, sellers will be able to select their own logistics and delivery services company instead of being locked into using Amazon’s logistics services.

An agreement between EU and Amazon means regulators will avert a long legal battle before the EU courts and ensure compliance before tougher digital rules come into force in 2023. A deal also means Amazon will avoid formal charges of breaking EU law and a large fine of up to 10 per cent of global revenues.

Member states, the European Commission and MEPs recently agreed on the final texts of the Digital Markets Act, aimed at curbing the power of big tech. The new rules will make it illegal for big tech companies to rank their services above those of rivals as regulators seek to clamp down on so-called gatekeepers.

Amazon has struck a deal with antitrust investigators in Brussels before. In 2017 the European Commission accepted commitments after opening an investigation to look into whether the US-based online retailer unfairly excluded rivals from the electronic books market.

While Amazon moved closer to ending its two EU antitrust probes, it is still under scrutiny from regulators in Germany and the UK.

Last week, the UK’s competition watchdog said it was investigating the tech company over concerns it may be undermining rivals on its platform, while Germany’s competition authority announced that Amazon would have to abide by tougher rules than smaller rivals.