Apple accused French regulators of antitrust violations "for political purposes" when they fined it a record € 1.1 billion.
Apple lawyer Melanie Thill-Tayara told the Paris Court of Appeal that the French competition authority (Autorité de la concurrence, ADLC) has never concealed its "goal of taking over GAFA" (Google, Apple and Facebook and Amazon. com). She noted that officials have seized on a complaint from a premium reseller to take legal action against Apple.
“The French competition authority clearly wanted to make a name for itself by dealing a serious blow to Apple, ” Till-Tayara said at a hearing on Thursday. She noted that Apple's accusations of putting pressure on iPad and Mac distributors do not hold water, and asked to simply cancel the fine.
Till-Tayara said observers relied on the false theory that the American company had entered into anticompetitive agreements with two wholesalers, damaging premium resellers of non-iPhone goods and unfairly favoring its own stores and website.
“None of the measures Apple has put in place are disadvantaging premium resellers, ” Till-Tayara said. She stated that the amount of the fine was artificially high and “disproportionate” given the allegations and their potential impact, which were limited at best. At the very least, the fine should be significantly reduced, the lawyer said.
As part of this case, wholesalers Tech Data and Ingram Micro were fined last year by the French authorities € 76.1 million and € 63 million, respectively, for alleged collusion with Apple. They also appealed against the fines.
The case against Apple was filed in a 2012 complaint filed by eBizcuss, Apple's premium reseller. Apple's appeal decision is expected to be made public in about a year, on November 3, 2022.
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