The European Commission’s Article 102 TFEU Guidelines: A Critical Assessment

Introduction

On 3 September 2026, the European Commission (Commission) published its Guidelines on the application of Article 102 TFEU to exclusionary conduct by dominant undertakings (Guidelines). The Guidelines replace the 2008 Guidance on enforcement priorities (Guidance), which is withdrawn 30 days after publication of the new text. They arrive after a 2024 draft that was widely criticised for relying too heavily on form, presumptions, and conduct categories at the expense of case-specific analysis.

The Guidelines are structured around four pillars: (i) the assessment of dominance, (ii) general principles for determining whether conduct distorts effective competition, (iii) specific analytical frameworks for particular types of conduct, and (iv) objective justifications and efficiencies. While focused on exclusionary abuses, the principles on dominance and objective justifications also apply to exploitative conduct.