An Italian administrative court has reduced the €1.13 billion antitrust fine previously imposed on Amazon, one of the largest penalties ever levied against a U.S. technology company in Europe.
The court’s ruling did not specify the revised figure. However, according to calculations reported by Reuters, removing the 50% discretionary surcharge applied by the Italian Competition Authority would bring the penalty down to around €750 million. Amazon has not yet issued an official comment on the decision.
Background on the Original Fine
The original sanction was handed down in December 2021, when Italy’s antitrust authority fined Amazon €1.13 billion ($1.28 billion) for abuse of market dominance. At the time, it was the largest fine the regulator had ever imposed and one of the heaviest penalties against a U.S. tech company in Europe.
The Italian authority concluded that Amazon had leveraged its dominant position in intermediation services on marketplaces to promote its proprietary logistics solution, Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). Sellers using FBA on Amazon.it were granted a range of exclusive benefits, including eligibility for the Prime label, which increases visibility and boosts sales.
According to the watchdog, Amazon prevented third-party sellers from associating the Prime label with offers not managed through FBA, thereby restricting competition in e-commerce logistics. Alongside the fine, the authority also ordered corrective measures to be overseen by a monitoring trustee.
Amazon strongly disputed the regulator’s decision at the time, describing the fine and remedies as “unjustified and disproportionate.” The company argued that FBA was entirely optional and that most third-party sellers on its platform did not use it. “When sellers choose FBA, they do so because it is efficient, convenient and competitive in terms of price,” Amazon said in a statement.
European Context
The European Commission cooperated closely with the Italian regulator during the investigation as part of the European Competition Network. The case was seen as complementary to the EU’s own probes into Amazon’s practices—one launched in 2019 over the use of sensitive data from third-party retailers, and another in 2020 concerning potential preferential treatment of sellers using Amazon’s logistics services.
