Hoping to settle two European Union (EU) antitrust probes, Amazon offered concessions on Thursday (July 14), including fair treatment to third-party sellers and banning the use of nonpublic data to compete with the merchants on its eCommerce site.
The European Commission (EC), the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, is now inviting comments on those commitments offered by Amazon to weigh if the competition concerns are adequately addressed, according to a press release.
Amazon said it has “serious concerns” that new EU digital regulations — known as the Digital Markets Act — are “unfairly targeting Amazon and a few other U.S. companies” and disagrees with several of the commission’s conclusions, the Associated Press reported.
See also: Amazon Faces UK Antitrust Probe Over Sales Practices
The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is also looking into whether Amazon is abusing its dominant position in the U.K. and “distorting competition” by favoring its own retail business and the sellers using its services, PYMNTS reported last week.
An investigation into Amazon’s practices was launched four years ago by the EC over allegations that the U.S. eCommerce behemoth was tapping data from the merchants selling on its site for its own competitive advantage.
A separate probe was also initiated over favoritism regarding Amazon’s own retail business and merchants that use its logistics and delivery system over sellers that don’t.
Read more: Amazon Pushes for End to European Commission Probe with Data Sharing, Rival Boosting
Amazon said last month that it would share marketplace data with its sellers and boost rivals’ product visibility on its platform in exchange for the EC closing its investigation with no fines, PYMNTS reported. Amazon could face a fine of as much as 10% of its global turnover, which could amount to billions of dollars.
If Amazon’s commitments are accepted by the EC, they would remain in force for five years. The commission is receiving feedback on the proposals until Sept. 9.
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