Italy’s antitrust regulator has fined Morellato €25.89 million ($25.9 million) for setting limits on how products can be discounted and restricting sales of its offerings on platforms like Amazon. In a newly issued decision, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (“AGCM”) found that the Italian jewelry group engaged in resale price maintenance and limited distributors’ ability to compete in violation of EU competition law.
In its March 31 decision, the AGCM found that Morellato implemented discount controls by issuing guidance on permissible online discounts, monitoring resale prices across its network, and intervening when distributors deviated. The conduct – which spanned July 2018 and December 2025 – included requests to withdraw discounts, order blocking, and threats to terminate commercial relationships. The AGCM determined that these practices amount to indirect price fixing, restricting distributors’ ability to independently set resale prices, and reducing price competition within the network.
The AGCM also identified restrictions targeting distributors’ sales via third-party online marketplaces. According to the AGCM, Morellato’s contracts prohibited sales on platforms like Amazon and eBay, while compliance with those restrictions was actively monitored, with breaches met by threats and retaliatory measures. The authority found that these measures, when combined with the pricing controls, limited distributors’ commercial autonomy, restricted competition between authorized distributors, and were applied in a discriminatory and non-proportionate manner.
The basis for the regulator’s decision: Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits agreements that restrict competition, including vertical restraints such as resale price maintenance and limitations on online sales. The AGCM determined that Morellato’s conduct constitutes a restriction of competition within the meaning of EU law.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The case reflects ongoing enforcement activity targeting vertical restraints in fashion and accessories distribution, particularly where brands seek to coordinate pricing and control distribution channels across increasingly transparent online environments. European regulators have repeatedly targeted resale price maintenance and online sales restrictions, including enforcement actions involving luxury groups, and at the EU level, recent decisions addressing similar conduct by brands such as Gucci, Chloé, and Loewe.
That enforcement activity has developed alongside key case law, including the Court of Justice’s 2017 ruling in favor of Coty, which held that marketplace restrictions may be permissible within selective distribution systems under certain conditions, and the Commission’s 2018 decision in Guess, which sanctioned restrictions on online search advertising, online selling, cross-border sales, cross-selling within the network, and independent resale pricing.
Against that background, practices that limit discounting or restrict access to marketplaces, particularly where they are reinforced through monitoring systems and commercial pressure, remain a focal point for competition authorities across Europe, highlighting the limits on how brands can maintain distribution control without engaging in unlawful coordination.
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