The Lazio TAR cancels the Antitrust maximum fine to Apple and Amazon

A little less than a year after the maxi-fine imposed by the Antitrust on Apple and Amazon for an anti-competitive agreement, the Lazio TAR is canceled today.

The fine came in November 2021 following an agreement between Apple and Amazon dating back to 2018. The agreement provided that on the Amazon.it platform, Apple and Beats products (a company purchased by Apple in 2014) could only be distributed by Amazon and from some selected retailers. Other official and unofficial dealers were thus excluded, in violation of competition rules. The Antitrust had therefore fined the two giants for the maxi figure of 114.681.657€.

Apple and Amazon will not have to pay the Antitrust fine

The judges held that “from the examination of the unfolding of the facts it emerges that the Agcm (Antitrust, ed) could have acquired all the information necessary to outline the basic elements of the offense and, therefore, decide whether or not to initiate the subsequent preliminary investigation phase in a much shorter period of time than that actually elapsed, during which no activities appear to have been carried out. This circumstance is in contrast with compliance with the principles of good performance and efficiency of administrative action, in the light of the jurisprudential guidelines referred to above “.

Meanwhile, the cancellation of the fine has been welcomed by Amazon. The company has in fact issued a press release which reads:

“We welcome the decision of the TAR. Our business model across Europe is based on the success of small and medium-sized enterprises. We will continue to work hard to provide a broad selection of Apple products ”.