Abstract

Poste Italiane has been fined around 11 million Euros by the Italian Antitrust Authority for abuse of economic dependence. In the Authority’s view, its conduct resulted in excessive and unjustified contractual burdens to the detriment of Soluzioni, thus hindered the establishment of a potential competitor on the market. Following years of silence, the proceedings under review brings back forcefully a conduct, the abuse of economic dependence, which seemed relegated to the shadows. The broader context of a revirement of economic dependence both from an enforcement and legislative standpoint – with the recent changes introduced by the Annual Law on Market and Competition which recently came into effect – seem to suggest a potential role for this tool within the transition of the Italian antitrust authority’s powers «from analogue to digital».