The EU Court of Justice clarifies how to assess whether a practice of differential pricing by a dominant undertaking is capable of distorting competition in a downstream market (MEO / Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia)

Facts This preliminary ruling arose following a complaint lodged with the Portuguese Competition Authority by Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia SA (“MEO”) alleging that GDA, a non-profit-making collecting cooperative which manages the rights of artists and performers, had abused its dominant position on the market. The alleged abuse concerned, notably, discriminating in the amount of royalty which GDA charged MEO for its television broadcasting services compared to another customer. Legal issue The CJ was asked whether or not the concept of discriminatory pricing placing a trading partner at a ‘competitive disadvantage’, for the purposes of subparagraph (c) of the second paragraph of Article 102 TFEU, must be interpreted as requiring an analysis of the specific effects of the