ECJ Advocate General Seeks to Affirm Judgment in Margin Squeeze Case

On 22 April 2010, Advocate General ('AG') Jan Mazák at the European Court of Justice ('ECJ') issued his opinion in Deutsche Telekom's appeal to the ECJ against the General Court ruling upholding the European Commission decision to impose a EUR 12.6 million fine on Deutsche Telekom for abusive margin squeeze. The AG opinion supports affirming the Commission decision. This is an important and closely-watched case, as it is the first time that the ECJ has been called upon to rule on the issue of a margin squeeze as a stand-alone abuse of dominant position.

Commission's decision

The Commission imposed a EUR 12.6 million fine on Deutsche Telekom for abuse of its dominant position in setting wholesale and retail prices for access to its local loop at levels such that new competitors could not profitably offer retail access services to consumers on the basis of wholesale access purchased from Deutsche Telekom. The Commission determined that Deutsche Telekom's pricing