European Commission adopts Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance under Article 102 TFEU

The European Commission has adopted its Guidelines on the application of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to abusive exclusionary conduct by dominant companies. The adoption marks the conclusion of a three-year drafting and consultation process, during which the Commission engaged extensively with various stakeholders, Member States, and national competition authorities (NCAs).

Article 102 TFEU prohibits dominant companies from engaging in abusive behaviour that seeks to exclude competitors from the market. Such exclusionary conduct—which includes practices like predatory pricing, margin squeeze, exclusive dealing, and refusal to supply—harms market dynamics, weakens innovation, and reduces consumer choice. To address these issues, the new guidelines establish a modern and economically sound framework based on the established case law of the EU Courts.

The guidelines are designed to achieve several key objectives:

* Modernising EU competition policy to address modern business realities;

* Enhancing legal certainty to facilitate compliance and enable companies to compete on the merits; and

* Increasing consistency in the enforcement of Article 102 TFEU by providing a common point of reference for the Commission, NCAs, and national courts.

Practically, the guidelines assist companies in evaluating whether they hold a dominant position, specifically addressing complex environments such as ecosystems and after-markets. They outline the criteria for determining when conduct departs from competition on the merits and results in exclusionary effects, and they set out the specific analytical frameworks for different types of conduct. Additionally, the guidelines clarify the legal avenues through which companies can justify their conduct, such as demonstrating that the behaviour is objectively necessary or that it generates efficiencies that outweigh any negative effects and ultimately benefit consumers.

This initiative began with a Call for evidence in March 2023, followed by a public consultation on the draft text in August 2024 and a stakeholder workshop in February 2025. With the publication of these guidelines, the Commission has withdrawn its 2008 Guidance on enforcement priorities, which had promoted an effects-based approach subsequently adopted by the EU Courts. While the new guidelines focus solely on exclusionary abuses, the Commission will continue to pursue exploitative abuses and may issue separate guidance on that conduct at a later stage.