Two EU antitrust proceedings against the American Internet retailer Amazon are expected to end in mutual agreement, i.e. without an antitrust fine.

The group had offered the EU Commission concessions at the beginning of July, which should allay their competition concerns.

The EU authority published the content of the Amazon proposals on Thursday.

It is now subjecting them to a so-called market test, i.e. calling on the companies affected by the restrictions on competition accused of the group, as well as consumer associations, to comment.

These must be received in Brussels by September 9th.

Werner Mussler

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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The EU Commission opened initial proceedings against Amazon in 2019 and accused the group of abusing its dominant position.

The authority particularly disliked the company's dual role as sales platform and retailer.

As a marketplace service provider for independent traders, Amazon has extensive access to their non-public business data, the Commission complained.

This data went straight into Amazon's automated retail store.

There they would be used to “balance” the company's end customer offerings and its strategic business decisions.

This puts the other sellers at a disadvantage.

Amazon now wants to completely stop using seller data for its own retail business.

A second case opened in November 2020 concerns the suspicion that Amazon – via its “Buy Box” and its “Prime” sales model – prefers its own offers to those of other providers.

Amazon confirmed this suspicion, the Commission said.

The company has pledged to treat all sellers equally in the ranking of their bids for the "buy box" on its website, which generates the majority of its sales.

The group wants to grant third-party providers on “Prime” the same conditions in the future.

They can also decide for themselves which companies will deliver their goods.

The EU Commission intends to make a final decision in autumn after evaluating the statements.

A trustee commissioned by the competition authority would have to monitor whether Amazon also keeps its promises.