ANTITRUST | The EU Commission adopted guidelines on exclusionary abuse of dominance

On 3 September 2026, the European Commission adopted Guidelines on the application of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (respectively, Guidelines and TFEU) to exclusionary conduct by dominant undertakings. The aim of the Guidelines is to set a solid and coherent foundation for the application of Article 102 TFEU, thus strengthening legal certainty and taking into account the new challenges of modern markets. The Guidelines provide the general principles to be followed by the Commission when assessing whether a company holds a dominant position and whether its conduct constitutes exclusionary abuse. The Guidelines also provide specific frameworks for certain types of conduct, such as predatory pricing or margin squeeze. Furthermore, the Guidelines set out the general principles applicable to the assessment of objective justifications put forward by the investigated company, distinguishing between objective necessity and efficiency defences and setting out the conditions under which such justifications may justify or counterbalance the effects of conduct that distorts effective competition.

Newsletter n. 121 – August/September 2026