The Amazon case, the negotiation phenomena and the abuse of dominant position. First reflections on the self-preferencing

Abstract

With the closing of the preliminary investigation A528, the Competition Authority (AGCM) imposed an exorbitant fine (of over one billion euros) on the Amazon company, for having abused its dominant position in the e-commerce market to the detriment not only of other marketplaces, but also to the detriment of companies providing logistics services that have not joined the Amazon logistics program. In particular, the provision of the Guarantor Authority, in admitting that the list of abusive conduct mentioned in art. 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union represents only an exemplary list of anticompetitive offenses, it is characterized by having qualified the conduct of self-preferencing in terms of abuse of dominant position. The contribution, examining the provision of the Guarantor Authority, offers ideas on the subject of self-preferencing in digital markets both from the point of view of competition law, and from the point of view of the law of regulation of digital markets.