In brief
- On 3 November 2026 the CNMC announced it had opened sanction proceedings against Apple and Amazon for breaching the cease order in its 2023 decision (VS/0013/21).
- According to the CNMC, the clauses were not removed until May 2025. It has a maximum of three months to investigate and decide, and opening the case does not prejudge the outcome.
- The case shows that competition authorities also police effective compliance with their orders, not just the initial fine.
Spain’s Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) has opened sanction proceedings against Apple and Amazon for failing to comply with the cease order it imposed in 2023. It matters because attention shifts from the original fine to whether it was actually obeyed.
What the CNMC has announced
The authority announced the opening of the case on 3 November 2026. It concerns the alleged breach of its July 2023 decision (case VS/0013/21), which fined both companies a total of EUR 194 million for anticompetitive clauses in the contracts governing Amazon’s role as a distributor of Apple products. Press reports put the split at EUR 143.6 million for Apple and EUR 50.5 million for Amazon.
The clauses unjustifiably limited the number of Apple resellers on Amazon España, restricted advertising space for competing brands and prevented marketing campaigns aimed at Apple customers to offer them alternatives.
How the breach finding developed
The CNMC maintains that the conduct did not stop until May 2025, after both firms received the breach proposal from its Dirección de Competencia. On 1 October 2025 the CNMC Council declared the breach and asked the Dirección de Competencia to open proceedings given signs of infringement. The case now begins after the courts refused the interim suspension the companies had requested.
The CNMC has a maximum of three months to investigate and decide, and stresses that opening the case does not prejudge the outcome. Both the 2023 decision and the breach declaration have been appealed to the Audiencia Nacional and await judgment.
What it means in practice
For platforms and brands, a cease order is an obligation with a deadline and its own consequences, not a formality after the fine. For sellers and resellers, the case is a reminder that contractual conditions for accessing a marketplace can raise competition law issues, under Spanish law and under Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Our view at CEA Digital Law
The Euro-American Committee of Digital Law - CEA Digital Law sees here a good supervisory practice: closing the loop between a decision and its execution. In digital markets, where a contractual or design change takes weeks, delayed compliance can prolong market effects for months.
We suggest three ideas for authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Africa, where marketplaces are growing fast and agencies are often younger. First, set verifiable cessation measures and deadlines in decisions. Second, provide for follow-up through compliance reports. Third, give the authority a specific and swift procedure, such as the three-month period applied here.
Open questions remain: how the courts will assess the scope of the duty to cease and from when, and how any penalty will be graded. We will follow developments, bearing in mind that nothing is settled until the final decision.
Sources
- CNMC: La CNMC inicia un expediente sancionador contra Apple y Amazon
- Computerworld España
- Europa Press (vía Press Digital)
- Merca2
CEA Digital Law
النشرة
فعاليات وأخبار وتحليلات في القانون الرقمي تصلك على بريدك، ولا نراسلك إلا حين يكون لدينا جديد.
