The Intel Retake – Annotation by Pepijn van Ginneken

For the legal journal Markt & Mededinging (“Market & Competition”), Pepijn van Ginneken wrote an annotation about a landmark judgment of the General Court of 26 January 2022 in a case between Intel and the European Commission (case T-286/09 RENV).

Thirteen years later, the General Court annuls in part the Commission decision imposing a record fine of EUR 1.06 billion on Intel. According to the Court, the Commission’s analysis is incomplete and inappropriate to show that the contested rebates could have or were likely to have anti-competitive effects. The judgment shows how legal presumptions of abuse of a dominant position can be rebutted. It does not make enforcement of the prohibition on abuse of a dominant position any easier, which may make the flight to the alternative of the recently adopted Digital Markets Act all the greater.

The annotation can be opened here (Dutch).