Event

II. European Competition Law Circle: Self-preferencing and European Competition law

  • Location

    LCEL

    4, rue Alphonse Weicker

    2721, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

  • Topic(s)
    Competition Law, Court of Justice of the European Union
  • Type(s)
    Free of charge, hybrid event

Self-preferencing and European Competition law

Self-preferencing refers to conduct whereby a dominant undertaking favours its own products or services over those of competitors, typically through non-price strategies. Concerns regarding self-preferencing have been particularly prominent in digital markets, where platforms often act simultaneously as gatekeepers and market participants, enabling them to influence the visibility of, and access to, their own products.

At the EU level, efforts have been made to deter self-preferencing both ex ante, by regulating it to some extent in the context of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and ex post by investigating alleged conduct as abuse of dominant position under Article 102 TFEU. Concerns about self-preferencing were particularly grown in the wake of the Google shopping case. More recently, the Commission accepted commitments by Amazon barring it from using non-public seller data to favor its own retail business and requiring equal treatment for third-party sellers in the Buy Box and Prime programme. 

The concept of ‘self-preferencing’ is now addressed directly in the Commission’s Draft Article 102 Guidelines. However, its legal boundaries remain blurred, overlapping with established theories like bundling or refusal to supply, while also encompassing novel harms unique to digital ecosystems.

Programme

  • 12.00 – 12.30

    Registration & Lunch

  • 12.30 – 12.35

    Welcome Words on behalf of the Luxembourg Centre for European Law
    Prof. Joana Mendes

  • 12.35 – 12.40

    Welcome from the President of the General Court of the EU
    Prof. Marc van der Woude

  • 12.40 – 12.45

    Welcome on behalf of the Association of European Competition Law Judges (AECLJ)
    Judge Anne-Marie Witters

  • 12.45 – 13.30

    Panel discussion: ‘Selfpreferencing and European Competition law’
    Judge Octavia Spineanu-Matei (Court of Justice of the European Union)
    Professor Pablo Ibanez Colomo (London School of Economics (LSE) and College of Europe, Bruges)
    Professor Walid Chaiehloudj (University Côte d‘Azur)

  • 13.30 – 14.00

    Discussion

The event is jointly organised by the Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL), the Association of European Competition Law Judges (AECLJ) and with the participation of the members of the General Court of the European Union.

  • Maria Ana Pocas Lourenco on Self-preferencing and EU Competition Law


    Ahead of the European Competition Law Circle, Maria shared her perspective on why self-preferencing has become such a central issue in EU competition law and what she hopes to see discussed at this year’s Competition Law Circle.

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