Antitrust Complaint against Amazon: Börsenverein Welcomes EU Commission’s Preliminary Investigation

Press release of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association

Antitrust Complaint against Amazon: Börsenverein Welcomes EU Commission’s Preliminary Investigation

The antitrust complaint filed against Amazon has entered the next round. The EU Commission has launched its own preliminary investigation as a result of the antitrust initiative set into motion by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) against the online retailer. The Börsenverein learned of the EU investigation in a top-level meeting with the Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s federal antitrust authority. "We welcome the Commission’s decision to investigate the issue, but we hope that the procedure is not prolonged unnecessarily as a result," noted Alexander Skipis, chief executive at the Börsenverein. The Bundeskartellamt will be following the EU Commission’s preliminary investigation very closely. The facts involved in the antitrust complaint filed by the Börsenverein have been made available to the Commission.
Frankfurt am Main, 11 july 2014

Contact for the media:

Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.
Claudia Paul, Director, Press and Public Relations
Telephone +49 (0) 69 1306-293, E-mail: paul@boev.de
Thomas Koch, Press Officer
Telephone +49 (0) 69 1306-292, E-mail: t.koch@boev.de