NGOs Criticize Amazon’s Plan to Mollify EU Regulators
Amazon’s proposal to halt some online sales and marketing practices to head off big antitrust fines from European Union regulators is inadequate and “full of loopholes,” a group of 11 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) argue in a filing to the European Commission.
The organizations submitted the filing on Thursday (Sept. 8) in response to a request for public comment. The signers consist of 11 organizations, including lobbying watchdogs, monopoly opponents and pro-union advocates.
“We, the undersigned, believe that Amazon’s dominant ‘gatekeeper’ position in e-commerce and other areas poses serious threats to our economies and societies ... We are delighted that the European Commission takes these threats seriously, and that it has launched this particular investigation and call for feedback,” the response states.
“Amazon’s core business model clearly involves creating, then exploiting, basic conflicts of interest,” the statement continues. “Its new proposed commitments seem designed to ensure that these profitable conflicts ultimately remain intact. We see this offer as a threat to consumers, businesses and workers. It will not stop Amazon from abusing its dominance.”
The signatories to the response are: Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour, Balanced Economy Project, Digitale Gesellschaft, European Public Services Union, Foxglove; Goliathwatch, FairVote UK, LobbyControl, Simply Secure, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, UNI Europa and Weltwirtschaft, Ökologie & Entwicklung.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a PYMNTS request for comment.
Reuters reported that the EU gave organizations until Sept. 9 to respond to the matter.
According to Reuters, Amazon has pledged to give sellers parity when it ranks items in response to potential buyers’ queries, and also stated it would give sellers offering superior deals space in search results near items from sellers that paid for placement.
Amazon’s headaches in Europe come as the company has scaled back U.S. expansion plans amid slowing growth in eCommerce.