Figli di un dio minore: gli abusi di sfruttamento nel diritto antitrust europeo

Exploitative abuses are defined as practices whereby the dominant undertaking uses its market power to extract extra profits from its customers, whether commercials or finals. Although the negative effects of these types of abuses are direct and intuitive, they have always received less attention than exclusionary abuses, whose consequences for competition are much more controversial. The reasons for this are more practical than intellectual: methods to detect exploitative abuses are difficult to enforce by the competent authorities and the tools to end them appear to be hardly effective. Nevertheless, the problem of exploitative abuses is bound to increase, especially in digital markets. There is often a strong and legitimate suspicion that the prices charged by large platforms are exorbitant compared to the value of the goods or services offered. Similarly, ‘terms and conditions’ of access to digital services that usually entail a strong compression of users’ privacy can easily be perceived as ‘unfair’. Finally, there are frequent indications that certain goods or services are offered on digital marketplaces at different prices depending on the user requesting them. The article presents a systematic analysis of the principles and case law practice developed within the European legal system in relation to the three mentioned typical figures of exploitative abuse.