The Dutch ACM's Crusade Against Vertical Price Influencing

With the imposition of a fine of almost 40 million Euros on Samsung in September 2021, the Dutch Competition Authority ("ACM") firmly set its enforcement focus on undue price influencing in vertical relations. In anticipation of the renewed EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation ("VBER") and taking into account the new Guidelines on vertical restraints published in May 2022, which confirm Resale Price Maintenance as a hardcore restriction of competition under Article 101 TFEU, the ACM embarked on a crusade against price influencing by adopting several initiatives to eradicate any restrictive conduct by suppliers with respect to the resale prices of their buyers.

In the course of 2022, the ACM took its first steps into the crusade after the Samsung decision by warning suppliers publicly not to influence prices adopted by buyers, following several signals from buyers who considered themselves the 'victims' of undue price influencing. The ACM stressed that only