European Union regulators have sent Amazon a formal statement of objections setting out competition concerns over its proposed acquisition of robot vacuum maker, iRobot.

The Commission said at the time it was worried the transaction would allow Amazon to restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners (RVCs) and strengthen its position as online marketplace provider in a number of ways.

Were Amazon to deploy such foreclosure strategies the Commission’s view at this stage of the probe is it could restrict competition in the market for RVCs, leading to “higher prices, lower quality, and less innovation for consumers”.

At the time the EU’s then competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, trumpeted the outcome as setting what she dubbed “new rules for how Amazon operates its business in Europe” — arguing the settlement meant the ecommerce giant could “no longer abuse its dual role” as marketplace operator and own brand retailer; and further claiming the outcome would ensure “competing independent retailers and carriers as well as consumers will benefit from these changes opening up new opportunities and choice.”

Given the commitments the EU already extracted from Amazon after those earlier investigations it’s interesting to see the bloc remains concerned over levers the ecommerce behemoth still has its disposal to potentially influence competitive outcomes on its marketplace vis-à-vis iRobot vs rival robot vacs.

Since then Amazon has also been named a gatekeeper under the EU’s shiny new ex ante competition regulation, the Digital Markets Act — which lists its marketplace as a core platform service.

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