欧盟委员会启动电子商务领域特定项目的竞争执法
如果需要提醒电子商务其竞争力在欧盟委员会的执行议程上关注度很高，我们现在就有明确的证据。委员会今日针对（i）消费性电子产品，（ii）电子游戏及（iii）酒店业经营的公司，根据竞争规则展开三次独立调查。它正在研究这些公司是否违反欧盟竞争规则，通过不公平地限制零售在线价格和/或由于他们的国籍或地点而将客户排除在某些网上优惠之外。
这些调查的启动并不令人意外，因为委员会2015年发起的电子商务部门调查的初步结果已经确定了零售价格限制，基于位置和地理阻塞做法的歧视作为区域的关注和焦点，如我们早期的博客中所报告的。令人惊讶的是，委员会在尚未完成调查并公布其预期在未来几个月将做的最后结论之前，已经启动了这项执法倡议。
为了将这一最新倡议纳入范围，部门查询是巨大的数据收集活动，使委员会能够更好地了解市场动态。有针对性的执法行动一般遵循这种调查，因为委员会将发现一个系统性问题，需要立即予以解决。这告诉我们，委员会显然已经收集了足够的证据，证明在这个阶段发起电子商务执法攻势是合理的。
消费电子行业的调查将集中于某些公司是否限制在线零售商设置自己的价格的能力。所述限制可能影响消费者电子价格的整体在线价格，因为许多在线零售商使用定价软件使零售价格适应领先竞争对手的价格。
视频游戏部门的调查将研究特定成员国的消费者是否被阻止通过使用“激活密钥”购买在其他成员国可用的更便宜的游戏，该“激活密钥”仅允许仅向客户访问游戏在特定的欧盟成员国。
最后，根据客户的投诉，委员会正在考虑位于会员国的消费者是否不能在位于其他会员国的旅行社提供的更好条件下预订酒店住宿。委员会将审查欧洲最大的旅行社与某些酒店之间的协议是否包含根据国籍或地点区分客户的条款。
会有更多的跟随和下一步？这可能是第一波执法行动，因为委员会部门调查的过去经验表明，在部门调查完成后的几个月内，委员会将利用其获得的见解进一步有针对性地执行。值得注意的是，在2009年委员会对制药部门进行最后一次部门调查之后，它在公布最后报告的同时发起了一系列黎明袭击。
信息很清楚：建议有在线分销渠道的公司尽快“放置（在线）商店”，以避免被定位。
英文版
EC Launches Targeted Competition Enforcement in E-Commerce Sector
If we needed any reminder that the competitiveness of e-commerce was high on the European Commission’s enforcement agenda, we now have unequivocal proof of this. The Commission today launched three separate investigations under the competition rules against companies operating in the (i) consumer electronics, (ii) video games and (iii) hotel sectors. It is looking into whether these companies are breaching EU competition rules by unfairly restricting retail online prices and/or by excluding customers from certain online offers because of their nationality or location.
The launch of these investigations does not entirely come as a surprise since the preliminary findings of the Commission’s sector inquiry on e-commerce, launched in 2015, had already identified retail price restrictions, discrimination on the basis of location and geo-blocking practices as areas of concern and focus, as reported in our earlier blogs. What is surprising though, is that the Commission has launched this enforcement initiative before it has even concluded its inquiry and published its final findings, which it is expected to do in the forthcoming months.
To put this latest initiative in context, sector inquiries are huge data gathering exercises enabling the Commission to better understand market dynamics. Targeted enforcement actions generally follow such inquiries, because the Commission will have found a systemic problem, which needs to be urgently addressed. This tells us that the Commission has clearly already gathered sufficient evidence to justify launching its e-commerce enforcement offensive at this stage.
The investigation in the consumer electronics sector will focus on whether certain companies are restricting the ability of online retailers to set their own prices. The alleged restrictions may have an effect on overall online prices for consumer electronic prices, due to the use by many online retailers of pricing software that adapts retail prices to those of leading competitors.
The investigation in the video game sector will look into whether consumers in a particular Member State are being prevented from buying cheaper games that may be available in other Member States through the use of “activation keys”, which grant access to a game only to customers in a particular EU Member State.
Finally, following complaints from customers, the Commission is looking at whether consumers located in a Member State are prevented from booking hotel accommodation at better conditions offered by tour operators located in other Member States. The Commission will review whether agreements between Europe’s largest tour operators and certain hotels contain clauses that discriminate between customers, based on nationality or location.
Is there more to follow and what next? This is likely a first wave of enforcement action, as past experience with Commission sector inquiries shows that in the months following the completion of a sector inquiry, the Commission will leverage the insights it has gained to pursue further targeted enforcement. It is noteworthy that in the aftermath of the Commission’s last sector inquiry in the pharmaceutical sector back in 2009, it launched a series of dawn raids simultaneously with the publication of its final report.
The message is clear: companies who have online distribution channels are well advised to “put their (online) shops in order” as soon as possible to avoid being targeted.
By Isabelle Rahman on February 2, 2017
Posted in Antitrust
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