On 10 May 2017, the European Commission published its final report on its two-year e-commerce sector inquiry (the Final Report). Many of the conclusions in the Final Report closely follow the Commission’s preliminary report, which were analysed and summarised in our last client alert on the e-commerce inquiry, and were also featured in our webinar on the subject last April.
The Final Report reviews the use of territorial restrictions, geoblocking, restrictions on resellers’ use of online marketplaces, Google AdWords and price comparison sites, provides some warnings on resale price maintenance and some analysis of the current regime of licensing of rights to digital platforms like Netflix and Spotify. The Commission continues to slowly chip away at e-commerce constrictions across the EU, in its ongoing desire to perfect and liberalise the European internal market. To learn about the key takeaways from the report, click here.