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Amazon offers concessions to end EU competition probe

The Commission has given rivals and customers until September 9 to respond
The Commission has given rivals and customers until September 9 to respond

Amazon has offered to refrain from using sellers' data for its own competing retail business and boost the visibility of rival products on its platform, EU regulators said today.

The move is aimed at staving off a possible hefty fine.

The US online retail giant offered to treat sellers equally when ranking their offers for the "buy box" on its website and which generates the bulk of its sales, confirming a Reuters story.

Sellers will also be allowed to choose their own logistics and delivery services company instead of Amazon's competing logistics services.

The European Commission said rivals and customers had until September 9 to provide feedback to Amazon's proposal before it decides whether to accept the offer and end its two investigations.

Amazon risks a fine up to 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of breaching EU rules.

It said today that while it disagrees with several of the Commission's conclusions it has engaged constructively with the EU competition watchdog.

The Commission in 2020 charged Amazon with using its size, power and data to push its own products and gain an unfair advantage over rival merchants that sell on its online platform.