EU countries continue to harass large American tech companies through investigations, fines and strict regulations. The Italian antitrust authority fined Apple and Amazon a total of 200 million euros. We have details below.
Amazon received a fine of 68.7 million euros, and Apple one of 134.5 million euros, due to anti-competitive practices. Both companies have appealed these decisions. The reason for the sanction is an agreement between Amazon and Apple, dating back to 2018 and allowing only those from Amazon and certain resellers to sell Apple and Beats products on Amazon Italy. There were also restrictions on sales abroad.
This agreement negatively affected rivals and affected the discounts offered by third parties, violating EU regulations. In addition to paying the fines, the two companies must allow any retailer to sell Apple and Beats products on Amazon's marketplace. And that without discrimination. The fines come after the authorities in Germany and Spain are also investigating similar situations. In 2018, there were a series of complaints in Germany against Amazon regarding how it abuses its position and the draconian regulations imposed on marketplace partners.
Apple's official position is that it "wanted to ensure that it could offer customers original products and worked closely with resellers for this purpose". Basically, Apple would have made an agreement with Amazon to avoid fakes and copies, that would be his explanation.