Copyright: Google LLC

In September 2024, the European Court of Justice upheld the European Commission’s decision finding that Google had abused its dominant position in online search markets by favoring its own shopping service over those of its competitors in its general search results. The judgment addressed several of the most contested issues regarding the meaning of Article 102 and its enforcement.

Thomas Vinje will discuss the recent judgment and its meaning for the application of Article 102. Thomas represented the international trade association FairSearch in this case before the European Commission and the original complainant in the case (Foundem) before the European General Court and the Court of Justice. For a comprehensive overview of Thomas Vinje’s biography, please follow the link.

Our seminar will focus on the key issues resolved in the judgment, including the following:

• When does a dominant company’s favouring of its own products or services constitute an abuse under Article 102? Does the Google Shopping judgment mean that a dominant company may never favour its own products or services?
• What are the limits of the Bronner doctrine on refusals to supply?
• What constitutes conduct by a dominant company that is not “on the merits” (which is one of the two basic criteria in determining whether a dominant company has infringed Article 102)? What factors may the Commission take into account in assessing whether conduct falls outside “competition on the merits”?
• What must the Commission do to establish a causal link between the practices at issue and the alleged effects thereof? In particular, must the Commission in all cases undertake a counterfactual analysis to show how the market would have developed absent the conduct?
• Is there any general requirement in Article 102 cases for the Commission to prove that the relevant conduct would exclude as-efficient competitors?
• Finally, what implications does the Google Shopping judgment have for the Draft Guidelines on the Application of Article 102 recently published by the European Commission? More generally, we expect to discuss whether the Commission has adopted a valid approach to Article 102 case law in its draft Guidelines

Professor Ronny Gjendemsjø will be chairing the event.

Time and place:
University of Bergen, Faculty of Law
Tuesday November 12 10:15-12:00, Auditorium 3

To watch the recording of this lecture, please follow the link.