EU set to bring antitrust charges against Amazon: reports

European Union officials plan to file antitrust charges against Amazon over the company’s treatment of third-party sellers on the e-commerce platform, according to multiple reports.

The case would be one of the most aggressive attempts by any government entity to regulate Amazon.

Antitrust regulators at the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, have determined that the e-commerce giant is stifling competition by using third-party seller data to boost its own line of products, sources with knowledge of the case told the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. 

The timing of the charges remains unclear.

Spokespeople for the European Commission and Amazon declined to comment on the reports.

Antitrust concerns about Amazon operating the retail platform and selling products on it have been raised before.

The European Commission formally opened its antirust investigation into Amazon in July 2019.

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner leading antitrust enforcement, said at the time that her team was probing whether Amazon was gaining an advantage from its dual role as a marketplace operator and seller of its own products.

–Updated at 3:30pm