The EU Court of Justice AG Wahl opts for a more effect-based approach on rebates and proposes an annulment of the EU General Court’s judgment (Intel)

In Intel's appeal against the General Court's judgement of June 2014 (which upheld the Commission's decision that Intel abused its dominant position by virtue of operating exclusivity rebate schemes – see here for our e-bulletin on the judgment), Advocate General Wahl recommends that the Court of Justice (CJEU) should set aside the ruling and refer the case back for the General Court to carry out a full assessment of the actual or potential effect on competition of Intel's conduct. According to Advocate General Wahl the General Court was wrong to conclude that the rebates operated by Intel were inherently anticompetitive and that it was therefore not necessary to consider the circumstances of the case in order to determine whether the conduct was capable of restricting competition. An