Amsterdam Court Backs Booking.com in Price Parity Case

Amsterdam Court Upholds Booking.com’s Position in Price Parity Case overview

The Amsterdam District Court upheld key elements of Booking.com's position in a price parity case, finding insufficient evidence that the company's past clauses restricted competition and raising concerns about previous market definitions.

Important details from the source

• Today the Amsterdam District Court upheld key elements of Booking.com’s position, concerning the company’s past use of price parity clauses in Germany before 2016 relating to a number of counterclaims brought by a group of German hotels.
• This ruling finds that the hotels have still not provided evidence proving that Booking.com’s past parity clauses restricted competition, despite the case having already run for over five years.
• In Germany, this position is also under review following the German Supreme Court’s judgment last week which found that an appellate court needs to reconsider its position on market definition in light of the same ECJ decision.
• “We are pleased the Amsterdam Court has upheld many of our key arguments in this interim ruling today,” said Maria Barros, Chief Legal and Public Affairs Officer at Booking.com.
• “We maintain that our past use of parity clauses, which we have not used in Germany since 2016, did not infringe competition law - and the court has found the hotels in this case have yet to provide evidence proving otherwise.
• We are also incredibly pleased that the European Court of Justice’s 2024 ruling relating to market definition is being taken into account, with the full substitutability of all sales channels on both sides of our marketplace being considered.”.
• “We remain proud of our role enabling a vibrant European tourism sector.
• With our headquarters in the Netherlands, we help support millions of jobs across Europe by connecting our more than 2.3 million accommodation partners in the region with global demand that drives growth in local economies across the continent.”.
• The decision from the Amsterdam Court today is limited to legal questions about Booking.com’s past parity clauses’ compliance with competition law and the specific counterclaims from German hotels in this case.
• With regards to any question around damages, if the hotels fail to prove that Booking.com’s past parity clauses restricted competition, there can be no question of damage being suffered.

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