Intel's Fine Of EUR 1.06 Billion Overturned

On 24 October 2024, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") delivered a landmark ruling in Case C-240/22 P (Intel), bringing an end to the long-running legal dispute between Intel and the European Commission (the "Commission"). The ECJ upheld the General Court's (the "GC") annulment of the Commission's 2009 decision, which imposed a historic EUR 1.06 billion fine on Intel for allegedly abusing its dominant position, in particular through the use of exclusivity rebates.

By rejecting the presumption that exclusivity rebates inherently constitute an abuse of dominance "by object", the ECJ has set a new precedent, raising the threshold for establishing anti-competitive practices under Article 102 TFEU. The ruling reinforces the importance of the as-efficient competitor test ("AEC-test") in determining whether a rebate scheme excludes equally efficient competitors and thereby constitutes an abuse of dominance under Article 102 TEUF.