Case C-264/23, Booking.com and Booking.com (Deutschland): Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 September 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Amsterdam – Netherlands) – Booking.com BV, Booking.com (Deutschland) GmbH v 25hours Hotel Company Berlin GmbH and Others (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Competition – Article 101 TFEU – Agreements between undertakings – Contracts concluded between an online reservation platform and hoteliers – Price parity clauses – Ancillary restraint – Block exemption – Vertical agreements – Regulation (EU) No 330/2010 – Article 3(1) – Definition of the relevant market)
Date: 2024-09-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: electronic commerce, hotel industry, price agreement, trade intermediary, vertical agreement








C_202406391EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/6391


4.11.2024






Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 19 September 2024 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Rechtbank Amsterdam – Netherlands) – Booking.com BV, Booking.com (Deutschland) GmbH v 25hours Hotel Company Berlin GmbH and Others


(Case C-264/23,
                (1)
Booking.com and Booking.com (Deutschland))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Competition - Article 101 TFEU - Agreements between undertakings - Contracts concluded between an online reservation platform and hoteliers - Price parity clauses - Ancillary restraint - Block exemption - Vertical agreements - Regulation (EU) No 330/2010 - Article 3(1) - Definition of the relevant market)
(C/2024/6391)
Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Rechtbank Amsterdam

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: Booking.com BV, Booking.com (Deutschland) GmbH

Defendants: 25hours Hotel Company Berlin GmbH, Aletto Kudamm GmbH, Air-Hotel Wartburg Tagungs- & Sporthotel GmbH, Andel’s Berlin Hotelbetriebs GmbH, Angleterre Hotel GmbH & Co. KG, Atrium Hotelgesellschaft mbH, Azimut Hotelbetrieb Köln GmbH & Co. KG, Barcelo Cologne GmbH, Business Hotels GmbH, Cocoon München GmbH, DJC Operations GmbH, Dorint GmbH, Eleazar Novum GmbH, Empire Riverside Hotel GmbH & Co. KG, Explorer Hotel Fischen GmbH & Co. KG, Explorer Hotel Nesselwang GmbH & Co. KG, Explorer Hotel Schönau GmbH & Co. KG, Fleming's Hotel Management und Servicegesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, G. Stürzer GmbH Hotelbetriebe, Hotel Bellevue Dresden Betriebs GmbH, Hotel Europäischer Hof W.A.L. Berk GmbH & Co KG, Hotel Hafen Hamburg. Wilhelm Bartels GmbH & Co. KG, Hotel John F GmbH, Hotel Obermühle GmbH, Hotel Onyx GmbH, Hotel Rubin GmbH, Hotel Victoria Betriebs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, Hotel Wallis GmbH, i31 Hotel GmbH, IntercityHotel GmbH, ISA Group GmbH, Kur-Cafe Hotel Allgäu GmbH, Lindner Hotels AG, M Privathotels GmbH & Co. KG, Maritim Hotelgesellschaft mbH, MEININGER Shared Services GmbH, Oranien Hotelbetriebs GmbH, Platzl Hotel Inselkammer KG, prize Deutschland GmbH, Relexa Hotel GmbH, SANA BERLIN HOTEL GmbH, SavFra Hotelbesitz GmbH, Scandic Hotels Deutschland GmbH, Schlossgarten Hotelgesellschaft mbH, Seaside Hotels GmbH & Co. KG, SHK Hotel Betriebsgesellschaft mbH, Steigenberger Hotels GmbH, Sunflower Management GmbH & Co. KG, The Mandala Hotel GmbH, The Mandala Suites GmbH, THR Hotel am Alexanderplatz Berlin Betriebs- und Management GmbH, THR III Berlin Prager-Platz Hotelbetriebs- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, THR München Konferenz und Event Hotelbetriebs- und Management GmbH, THR Rhein/Main Hotelbetriebs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, THR XI Berlin Hotelbetriebs- und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, THR XXX Hotelbetriebs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, Upstalsboom Hotel + Freizeit GmbH & Co. KG, VI VADI HOTEL Betriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Weissbach Hotelbetriebsgesellschaft mbH, Wickenhäuser & Egger AG, Wikingerhof GmbH & Co. KG, Hans-Hermann Geiling (Hotel Präsident), Karl Herfurtner, Hotel Stadt München e.K.

Operative part of the judgment







1.


Article 101(1) TFEU
must be interpreted as meaning that parity clauses, both wide and narrow, inserted into the agreements concluded between online hotel reservation platforms and providers of accommodation services do not fall outside the scope of that provision on the ground that they are ancillary to those agreements.










2.


Article 3(1) of Commission Regulation (EU) No 330/2010 of 20 April 2010 on the application of Article 101(3) [TFEU] to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices
must be interpreted as meaning that in a situation in which an online hotel reservation platform acts as intermediary in transactions concluded between accommodation establishments and consumers, the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of the application of the market share thresholds provided for in that provision requires a concrete examination of the substitutability, from a supply and demand point of view, between online intermediation services and other sales channels.






(1)  
            OJ C 286, 14.8.2023.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/6391/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)