Intel sees a fine of more than one billion euros canceled by European justice


It is a setback that Brussels would have done well without. The European Commission has just been disavowed in its standoff against Intel. In a judgment delivered on Wednesday January 26, 2022, the Court of the European Union canceled the fine of 1.06 billion euros imposed on the American founder in May 2009 for abuse of a dominant position on the processor market, between October 2002 and December 2007. Intel, which held 70% of the market, was then accused of wanting to destroy its rival AMD.

But the court held that “the analysis carried out by the Commission is incomplete and does not establish to the requisite legal standard that the rebates at issue were capable or likely to have anti-competitive effects”. However, the court did not find the European Commission wrong on all counts, but it “believes that it is unable to identify the amount of the fine relating solely to the undisguised restrictions”.

However, the case is not over and the Commission can appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Still, this remains bad news for Brussels in its crusade against the GAFA. Especially since in July 2020, the European Union court had already canceled the reimbursement to Ireland of the 13 billion euros in taxes unpaid by Apple.



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