On September 5, Advocate General (AG) Medina
rendered her opinion in Alphabet and Others,
(Opinion)suggesting the Court of Justice not to
apply the strict Bronner 2criteria for
assessing Google's refusal to grant access to its Android Auto
platform for an app providing a set of features for charging
electric vehicles.
Instead, AG Medina concludes that a dominant company that owns a
platform and which excludes, obstructs or delays access of an app
developed by a third-party infringes Article 102 TFEU, provided
that such behaviour gives rise to anticompetitive effects to the
detriment of consumers and cannot be objectively
justified.3
Importantly, AG Medina breaks new legal ground in that she
believes that a refusal to grant access to a platform cannot be
objectively justified by the "mere fact that the dominant
undertaking must develop a software template taking into account
the specific needs of the operator requesting access." In
other words, just granting
