- The European Union's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, is expected to launch a formal investigation into Amazon within days, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
- Last year, Vestager confirmed that her team was exploring how Amazon used the data from third-party sellers. She made clear, however, that the work was at a preliminary stage.
- Amazon's role as both a platform for merchants and a seller on that platform has become one of the most contentious areas of the business, with the Federal Trade Commission also looking at the practice.
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Amazon is said to be facing an antitrust investigation in the European Union.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager — a formidable force when it comes to scrutinizing big tech — is expected to launch a "full-blown" investigation into Amazon within days.
Vestager said last year that her team had started to look into how Amazon was using the data from sales of its third-party sellers on the platform. She made clear at the time, however, that the work was at a preliminary stage.
Amazon and the European Commission did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment.
Read more: The EU is now going after Amazon after slapping Google and Apple with giant fines
The news comes just months after reports surfaced that the Federal Trade Commission in the US was questioning Amazon's rivals about some of its business practices, including how it competes with its third-party sellers.
Amazon's role as both a platform for merchants and a seller on that same platform has become one of the most contentious areas of the business, especially as reports surfaced indicating it had been using sellers' data to create its own versions of best-selling items.
The main concern for both regulators and competitors is that the company may be so dominant that it's impossible for others to compete.
Vestager is known for her no-nonsense attitude. Since taking on the role of EU commissioner for competition in 2014, she has taken action against Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google among others.
In July 2018, she fined Google $5 billion for anticompetitive practices related to its Android operating system. In 2016, Apple was forced to pay $16 billion in back taxes to Ireland.
Vestager's persistence in pursuing US tech firms has drawn the anger of President Donald Trump. He said last month that she "hates the United States perhaps worse than any person I've ever met."
