EU hits Amazon with anti-trust charges for distorting competition

The European Union formally accused US giant Amazon on Tuesday of abusing its control over an online marketplace to distort competition, a breach of anti-trust rules.

Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Brussels had informed the company of its view and would push on with an investigation, while opening a second formal probe.

This second investigation will probe whether Amazon’s Prime service and the “buy box” that appears on the screen “artificially” push buyers into sellers using Amazon’s logistics service.

“We reached the preliminary conclusion that Amazon illegally has abused its dominant position as a marketplace service provider in Germany and France,” she tweeted, ahead of a news conference.