The Intel judgment: the Commission threw the first stone but the EU courts will throw the last

Abstract

In its long-awaited judgment, the General Court dismissed in its entirety the appeal brought by Intel against a Commission decision whereby Intel was found to have abused its dominant position by means of exclusivity rebates and direct payments to its customers. The judgment of the General Court has important implications for the modernisation of Article 102 of the TFEU and the future of the effects-based approach to it. Situating the Intel judgment within the broader framework of the modernisation of Article 102, this article observes that the Intel judgment simply reiterates that the EU courts have the exclusive power to interpret the Treaty provisions. It argues that while the Commission has faced a major setback for its new reading of rebates as enshrined in the Guidance Paper, it may nevertheless proceed with the effects-based approach in other areas of Article 102 in its future enforcement.