Apple Risks Dutch Antitrust Lawsuit After EU Court Decision
In Focus
- The EU Court ruled that App Store Antitrust case can be heard by a Dutch Court
- The Court said the App Store version was designed for the Dutch market
- Apple is accused of charging App Store commissions
Apple could face class action-type damages claims in the EU over App Store antitrust after the region’s highest court ruled that the tech giant can be sued in a Dutch court. According to Yahoo Finance, the EU Court said the App Store users can file a joint Dutch lawsuit against Apple irrespective of their location.
App Store Commission Under Scrutiny
The EU court backed two foundations in their pursuit for compensation for users who were affected by Apple’s anti-competitive conduct on the App Store.
The foundations, Stichting Right to Consumer Justice and Stichting App Stores, had sued Apple in the Netherlands for charging excessive App Store commissions. The commissions can be as high as 30% per sale. According to the foundations, Apple abuses its dominant position and hurts users with the high commissions.
But Apple claimed that the alleged harmful events did not occur in the Netherlands, and therefore a Dutch court had no jurisdiction to hear the case. A Dutch Tribunal sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the claims made by the two foundations as damages.
Apple and other American tech companies have been facing scrutiny in the EU. Last week, the EU said it will probe to determine whether Apple’s Ads and Maps services should be designated the gatekeeper status.
Dutch Court Can Hear Case Relating to the Netherlands Market
The CJEU ruled that an Amsterdam court could hear the original claims in the Apple antitrust damages case in the Netherlands, as submitted by the foundations.
“The Netherlands courts have jurisdiction to hear a representative action concerning the alleged anticompetitive conduct of Apple in relation to its App Store aimed at the Netherlands market,” said the Court of Justice in a press release as reported by MSN.
Apple faces a potential antitrust lawsuit in the EU about two months after losing a £1.5 billion consumer lawsuit in the U.K. The company lost the appeal after a competition tribunal ruled that app store practices stifled competition by compelling developers to pay excessive fees.
Reasons for EU Court’s Decision
While dismissing Apple’s arguments, the CJEU argued that the App Store version under scrutiny had been designed specifically for the Dutch market. The court also said that the App Store hosts Dutch apps and sells them in the Dutch language to users whose Apple IDs are linked to the Netherlands.
“The damage allegedly suffered when purchases are made in that virtual space can therefore occur in that territory, irrespective of the place where the users concerned were situated at the time of the purchase,” CJEU judges said as per Yahoo Finance.
Apple has appealed against a $580 million fine imposed by the EU after the tech giant was found in breach of the Digital Markets Act. According to the European Commission, the iPhone maker breached the law by restricting developers from informing users about alternative payment options outside the App Store.
