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Jurisdiction(s):
European Union

CJEU rules Booking.com's parity clauses not objectively necessary; both wide and narrow reduce competition and may breach EU competition law

Published on: 20 September 2024

Published by a Law360 reporter
Legal News
Article summary

Europe’s high court ruled that the clauses do not amount to ‘ancillary restraints’ exempt from competition rules, as Booking.com could still run its online travel business without them, and thus also cannot claim any shelter under that exception. The court explained there is no inherent link between the survival of the hotel reservation platform’s core activity and imposing such clauses, which plainly create appreciable restrictive effects in the market. It added that, besides tending to lessen competition among different hotel reservation platforms, the clauses threaten to drive out smaller platforms and fresh market entrants over time in practice. The ruling responds to a request from a Netherlands court on how to assess Booking.com’s liability for the pricing clauses in connection with private litigation initiated subsequent to a German government enforcement action...

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