Germany Widens Amazon Investigation Under New Regulations

Germany’s antitrust watchdog said on Monday it had expanded two probes into US e-commerce giant Amazon making use of new regulation allowing it to prohibit any anti-competitive behaviour at an earlier stage, reported Reuters.

“We are examining in both proceedings whether and how Amazon impedes the business opportunities of sellers that are active on the Amazon marketplace and compete with Amazon’s own retail business,” Federal Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt said in a statement.

Read more: Germany Launches Investigation Into Amazon

Changes to Germany’s antitrust laws for digital corporations, which came into effect last year, give the cartel office more power in identifying and prohibiting some companies’ dominant positions.

According to the cartel office, Amazon operates the most important marketplace in e-commerce, giving it a key position in that area that allows it to set the rules for competition on its platform.

“Our new competencies, which are precisely intended to restrict such power to set rules, allow us to intervene more efficiently against Amazon’s anti-competitive practices,” Mundt said.