News release: “The European Commission has today launched an antitrust competition inquiry into the e-commerce sector in the European Union. The inquiry, as announced by Commissioner Vestager in March, will allow the Commission to identify possible competition concerns affecting European e-commerce markets. It complements actions launched within the framework of the Digital Single Market Strategy adopted today. The sector inquiry will focus particularly on potential barriers erected by companies to cross-border online trade in goods and services where e-commerce is most widespread such as electronics, clothing and shoes, as well as digital content. Knowledge gained through the sector inquiry will contribute to better enforcement of competition law in the e-commerce sector. Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner in charge of competition policy, said, “European citizens face too many barriers to accessing goods and services online across borders. Some of these barriers are put in place by companies themselves. With this sector inquiry my aim is to determine how widespread these barriers are and what effects they have on competition and consumers. If they are anti-competitive we will not hesitate to take enforcement action under EU antitrust rules.” More and more goods and services are traded over the internet but cross-border online sales within the EU are only growing slowly. The Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy published today identifies a number of regulatory barriers that hinder cross-border e-commerce. It proposes to address these and create an area where citizens and businesses can seamlessly access and exercise online activities under conditions of free competition, irrespective of their nationality or place of residence. There are also indications that businesses may themselves establish barriers to cross-border online trade, with a view to fragmenting the EU’s Single Market along national borders and preventing competition. Those barriers may include contractual restrictions in distribution agreements that prevent retailers from selling goods or services purchased online or cross-border to customers located in another EU country. Therefore, the Commission’s competition sector inquiry will gather market information in order to better understand the nature, prevalence and effects of these and similar barriers erected by companies, and to assess them in light of EU antitrust rules.”

• Antitrust: Commission launches e-commerce sector inquiry – factsheet

• “In the context of its Digital Single Market strategy, on 6 May 2015 the Commission launched a sector inquiry into e-commerce in the EU, pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation 1/2003. The aim of this sector inquiry is to allow the Commission to gather data on the functioning of e-commerce markets so as to identify possible competition concerns. It will focus particularly on potential barriers erected by companies to cross-border online trade in goods and services where e-commerce is most widespread (e.g. electronics, clothing and shoes), as well as in digital content. It will initially cover all EU Member States. The Commission plans to publish on this page a preliminary report in mid-2016. Then, following a public consultation on the preliminary report, the Commission plans to publish the final report in the first quarter of 2017. The findings of this sector inquiry will allow the Commission and national competition authorities to better focus possible enforcement actions in the area of e-commerce.”