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LONDON – European Union regulators laid antitrust charges against Amazon on Tuesday, claiming the online retail giant violated competition laws by unfairly using its size and access to data to harm small businesses marketers who rely on the business to reach their customers.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-country bloc, said Amazon has abused its dueling role both as a retail store used by millions of suppliers and as a merchant that sells its own products competitors on the platform. Authorities have accused Amazon of collecting data from millions of merchants who use its marketplace to spot popular products, then copy and sell them for less.
“We need to make sure that dual role platforms with market power, like Amazon, do not distort competition,” Margrethe Vestager, vice-chair of the digital committee, said in a statement. “Data on the activity of third-party sellers should not be used for the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor of those sellers.”
The case, awaited for months, is the latest front in a transatlantic regulatory push against Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, with US and European authorities taking a more skeptical view of their business practices and their dominance of the digital economy. . Last month, the Justice Department filed antitrust charges against Google, and Apple and Facebook are also under investigation in Washington and Brussels.
Many in Europe will be watching to see how Amazon’s announcement is received by the new administration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is expected to pursue policies that limit the power of the industry. The Trump administration has criticized Ms Vestager for targeting American companies like Apple, even as she launched its own investigations into the industry.
In Amazon’s case, Tuesday’s announcement was only part of the regulatory process. It may take several months, or even years, before a fine and other penalties are announced. The commission could also reach an agreement with Amazon.
The European Commission said it has also launched a new parallel investigation into Amazon policies that may artificially favor its own retail offerings and the products of other companies that pay to use Amazon’s logistics services.
Amazon had no immediate comment on the European Commission investigations. In the past, the company has denied wrongdoing and attributed its size to creating a great product that consumers love.
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