One key focus of the bundeskartellamt s activities is the prosecution of competition restraints in internet sales. This paper aims to shed light on the economic tools, as well as the legaleconomic reasoning, which are used by different european antitrust authorities to assess the allegedly anticompetitive practices of a platform operating in a twosided market 2sm. Bundeskartellamt is germanys national competition regulator. On 20 december 20, the bundeskartellamt banned hrs hotel reservation service from using mfn clauses and ordered it to remove such clauses from its contracts as a remedy to restrictions on competition among hotel online booking websites. It was first established in 1958 and comes under the authority of the federal ministry for economic affairs and energy. The paper argues that, from a policy point of view, the fcos approach of issuing prohibition orders against hrs. The authoritys proceedings against hrs on account of most favoured customer clauses were concluded with the prohibition of these clauses. Bundeskartellamt, administrative proceedings decision pursuant to sec. Online booking platforms and eu competition law in the wake. Amelia fletcher morten hviid when apple launched the ipad in 2010, its then ceo steve jobs was quizzed on camera about the price of ebooks to be sold through the devices. Media in category bundeskartellamt the following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total. Price and condition parity clauses in contracts between hotel.
Hrshotel reservation service robert ragge gmbh, koln im folgenden. The bundeskartellamt prohibited the parity clause used by hrs a major. The dca found that the wide mfn clauses restricted price and fee competition among hotel portals. The bundeskartellamt has issued a statement of objections to hrs hotel reservation service robert ragge gmbh, cologne hrs on account of, inter alia, a violation of 1 and 20 of the act against restraints of competition gesetz gegen wettbewerbsbeschrankungen, gwb hrs has agreed a most favoured treatment clause with its hotel partners which guarantees that, of all online booking. German hotels step up boycotts against online travel agency hrs. Price parity clauses on internet platform markets holger lohr masters thesis economics other publish your bachelors or masters thesis, dissertation, term paper or essay. Offer starts on jan 8, 2020 and expires on sept 30, 2020. With regard to cartel detection, the bundeskartellamt received 85 leniency applications from july 2012 to june 20. Apart from the compressor, both technologies scale up linearly. Pdf analysis of prices of accommodation establishments in.
In 20 the bundeskartellamt, the german federal cartel office, decided that the rate parity clauses between and german hotels are anticompetitive and must be removed from the contracts. The competitive effects of parity clauses on online commerce. This paper offers a critique of the december 20 prohibition order of the bundeskartellamt in the hrs hotel platform case. Lilli japec, cochair, statistics sweden frauke kreuter, cochair, jpsm at the u. Platform monopolization by narrowppcbpg combination. One leniency candidate in the horizontal proceedings then also came up with an application concerning rpm.
In 2015 the bundeskartellamt also investigated narrow price parity clauses of the hotel booking platform and declared them to be. Report on the monitoring exercise carried out in the online hotel. See bundeskartellamt, online hotel portal hrss best price clause violates competition lawproceedings also initiated against other hotel portals, 20 december 20. Aapor report on big data aapor big data task force february 12, 2015 prepared for aapor council by the task force, with task force members including.
Only the german version of the decision is authentic. For charging stations, the superchargers account for the largest share of the specific cost, while for hrs the compressor and h 2 buffer storage are dominant cost components. Thus, the relationship between access to data and market power is often discussed in connection with multisided markets. At the same time, multisided aspects are present in these markets. Hrs has agreed mfn clauses with its hotel partners in various. German regulator says hrs hotel price deals may break rules bloomberg l. It goes without saying that manufacturers are allowed to ensure the highquality distribution of their products.
Diverging approaches in europe for the most favouredcustomer. Amazon dropped its price parity clause after the bundeskartellamt had opposed this practise. It discusses the fcos market investigation, its definition of the. The role of renewable fuel supply in the transport sector in. Bundeskartellamt examines hrs best price clause date of issue. The fco starts with a reference to the dcas hrs ruling paras 166 et seq. At the end of your monthly term, you will be automatically renewed at the promotional monthly subscription rate until the end of the promo period, unless you elect to. Klockner allowed to launch digital platform for steel products. Summary of the lear report sebastian wismer department of economics, university of wuerzburg interdisciplinary research group preisbezogene behinderungsmissbraeuche wuerzburg, november 6, 2012. The competitive effects of parity clauses on online commerce ariel ezrachi slaughter and may professor of competition law, the university of oxford, oxford, uk. The federal cartel office, otherwise known as the bundeskartellamt, said the dusseldorf higher regional court has shot down hrs challenge to the watchdogs december 20 decision outlawing the. Asics dealers allowed to use price comparison engines federal court of justice confirms bundeskartellamts decision press release pdf pdf, 153kb about us.
German court upholds ban on hotel sites lowprice policy. The bundeskartellamt and the austrian federal competition authority have today submitted for public consultation a joint draft guidance paper on the application of the new transaction value threshold in merger control in recent months merger control thresholds in both germany and austria were supplemented with a threshold that is based on a purchase price criterion. Footnote 7 this decision was upheld by the dusseldorf court of appeals and is final. With proceedings against companies such as hrs, amazon and adidas the authority has achieved significant results in this area in the more recent past andreas mundt. Online platforms, rate parity, and the free riding defence. Yet, in its hrs infringement decision, the bundeskartellamt took into account the survey offered by the investigated party and independent surveys for the industry.
Price parity clauses on internet platform markets publish. It discusses the fcos market investigation, its definition of the relevant market, its theory of harm as well as its assessment of efficiencies. Mar 10, 2016 abstract this paper offers a critique of the december 20 prohibition order of the bundeskartellamt in the hrs hotel platform case. Sektoruntersuchung vergleichsportale bundeskartellamt.
Parity clauses and competition law in digital marketplaces. In the last 15 years, online intermediation has grown exponentially with the development and expansion of the internet and digital marketplaces. Press release, bundeskartellamt, bundeskartellamt issues statement of objections regarding s best price clauses. Multisided market economics in competition law enforcement. Evaluation of best price clauses in online hotel bookings.
In december 20 the bundeskartellamt issued a decision prohibiting hrs to use an appa whereby hotels were obliged to offer hrs the best booking conditions, i. Best price clauses of hrs hotel portal violate competition law. Bundeskartellamt launches sector inquiry into comparison websites. Abstract this paper offers a critique of the december 20 prohibition order of the bundeskartellamt in the hrs hotel platform case. Wide price parity clauses of the hotel booking platform hrs, which held a market share of over 30%, were found to be in violation of art. Further investigations targeted selective distribution.
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