Electronic commerce and the fashion industry: new challenges for competition law coming from the Digital Single Market

Abstract

Digital technology has changed our markets to an extent last seen during the industrial revolution and electronic commerce has been growing steadily over the last decade. This paper intends to assess how the development of online sales has affected market strategies and the application of competition law, with a particular focus on the selective distribution agreements within the fashion industry. Secondly, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union is analysed in order to show how certain new contractual clauses, that have become frequent in the digital commercial landscape, require competition rules to be read under a new lens. The final part is dedicated to the recent Geo-blocking Regulation which represents one the most significant measures within the Digital Single Market, highlighting both its coordination with antitrust provisions and its application when competition law does not apply.