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ARTICLE · 15 MAY 2015

European Commission Launches E-Commerce Sector Inquiry

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The European Commission has launched a sector inquiry of the e-commerce sector in Europe. This is a far-reaching competition review of the sector by the European Union ("EU") competition authority.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Jones Day
Jones Day
Johannes Zöttl
Johannes Zöttl
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The European Commission (the "Commission") has launched a sector inquiry of the e-commerce sector in Europe.1 This is a far-reaching competition review of the sector by the European Union ("EU") competition authority, bringing potentially significant changes to rules and regulations related to selling online in Europe. The inquiry also carries the risk of enforcement action against individual companies for breaches of the EU antitrust rules. It will affect the activities of all international companies engaged in online selling into and within the EU, regardless of their physical location.

The sector inquiry forms part of a new wider Digital Single Market Strategy by the Commission, which was launched by the Commission on the same day.2 The Digital Single Market Strategy (the "Strategy") identifies and proposes actions to address a number of public (i.e., regulatory) barriers that hinder cross-border e-commerce. The Strategy has the three main objectives of achieving

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