The CNMC opens sanctioning proceedings against Apple and Amazon for breaching the cease-and-desist order in the 'brandgating' case

The Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has opened sanctioning proceedings against Apple and Amazon for having breached the cease-and-desist order imposed on them in the sanctioning resolution of 2023 (file VS/0013/21). The new files are processed under references SNC/DC/095/26, against Apple, and SNC/DC/096/26, against Amazon, according to the information published by the body on 3 November 2026.

The background: 194 million euros in 2023

In July 2023, the CNMC fined Apple and Amazon 194 million euros for including anticompetitive clauses in the contracts regulating the terms of Amazon as a distributor of Apple in Spain. According to the 2023 resolution, those clauses had three effects on the market: they unjustifiably restricted the number of resellers of Apple products on Amazon's website in Spain; they limited the advertising spaces where products competing with Apple could be advertised on that website; and they prevented Amazon from directing marketing campaigns at customers of Apple products on its website in Spain to offer them competing products from other brands.

In addition to the fine, the 2023 resolution urged both companies to adopt the necessary measures to cease the sanctioned conducts. That is where the new file originates: according to the CNMC, it was not until May 2025 that the companies eliminated the clauses restricting the number of resellers of Apple products on Amazon and those limiting Amazon's advertising spaces for Apple's competitors.

What files SNC/DC/095/26 and SNC/DC/096/26 are

The CNMC frames the new files within its function of monitoring compliance with the resolutions and agreements it adopts. When the body sanctions a conduct and orders its cessation, the resolution is not exhausted with the fine: the obligation to cease the practice is enforceable immediately and continuously, and its breach may give rise to an independent sanctioning procedure. In this case, the processing has been articulated in two parallel files - SNC/DC/095/26 against Apple and SNC/DC/096/26 against Amazon - which share the same substance: the contractual clauses between the two companies and the actual date on which they ceased to apply.

The body itself stresses that chronology: the sanctioning resolution dates from July 2023, the Competition Directorate's breach proposal arrived in 2025 and the effective elimination of the clauses did not take place until May 2025. In the meantime, the conducts continued to produce effects in the market: resellers of Apple products remained restricted on Amazon's website in Spain, Apple's competitors continued to lack access to certain advertising spaces and Amazon could not direct cross-marketing campaigns at customers of Apple products.

The Council's declaration of breach

On 1 October 2025, the CNMC Council declared that Amazon and Apple breached the July 2023 resolution, by not having ceased the sanctioned conducts until May 2025, once they received the Competition Directorate's breach proposal. The Council urged that directorate to open sanctioning proceedings because there were indications of infringement as a consequence of the breach.

The CNMC also notes that the file is opened after the courts denied the precautionary suspension requested by both companies, and recalls that the opening does not prejudge the final result of the investigation. A maximum period of three months now opens for the investigation of the file and for its resolution by the CNMC.

The cease-and-desist order as an obligation of immediate result

From the legal point of view, the key to the file lies in the nature of the cease-and-desist order. When a resolution declares an infringement and orders the cessation of the conduct, the obligation does not wait for the resolution to become final: cessation is enforceable from the moment the order is imposed, and its delay constitutes an autonomous breach. That the clauses remained in force until May 2025 - almost two years after the resolution - is the fact that the CNMC Council has declared constitutive of breach and that is now subject to a new sanctioning procedure, whose opening, the body recalls, does not prejudge the final result.

Monitoring resolutions: a growing function

The case illustrates the role of resolution monitoring within competition policy. The CNMC not only pursues conducts: it checks that its own decisions are executed. That monitoring can rely on requests for information, on the collaboration of affected third parties and on market analysis, and it leads, when it detects indications, to a declaration of breach adopted by the Council and, where appropriate, to a new sanctioning file. For sanctioned companies, the practical consequence is that the post-resolution compliance strategy is as relevant as the defence in the original file.

A case with two open judicial fronts

The body records that both the 2023 sanctioning resolution and the 2025 breach resolution have been appealed before the Audiencia Nacional and are pending judgment. The new sanctioning file therefore joins litigation already under way, which makes the "brandgating" case one of the competition procedures with the longest trajectory in recent years in Spain.

Case timeline

• July 2023: the CNMC fines Apple and Amazon 194 million euros (VS/0013/21) and orders them to cease the conducts.
• May 2025: the companies finally eliminate the restrictive clauses.
• 1 October 2025: the CNMC Council declares the breach and urges the opening of a new file.
• 3 November 2026: the CNMC announces the start of sanctioning files SNC/DC/095/26 and SNC/DC/096/26, with a maximum of three months of investigation.

Practical reading for corporate advice

The case offers several lessons for firms advising on competition law. First: cease-and-desist orders have a life of their own and their breach can generate an autonomous sanctioning file, independently of whether the original resolution is appealed. Second: time counts - the CNMC has compared the date of the order with the effective date of elimination of the clauses, almost two years later. Third: the courts' denial of the precautionary suspension left the companies exposed while the appeals are resolved. For any operator with distribution terms on marketplaces, the timeline of file VS/0013/21 is a reminder that the effective execution of competition resolutions is part of the compliance strategy, not an appendix to the sanctioning phase.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the CNMC opening a file against Apple and Amazon?

For breaching the cease-and-desist order of the 2023 resolution (VS/0013/21): the anticompetitive clauses were not eliminated until May 2025.

How much were they fined in 2023?

A total of 194 million euros, for the clauses regulating the terms of Amazon as a distributor of Apple.

What is the next step in the procedure?

A maximum period of three months for the investigation of files SNC/DC/095/26 and SNC/DC/096/26 and their resolution by the CNMC.

Related reading

• The CJEU and the publicity of shareholder data (C-798/24)
• The AEPD warns a company considering AI to analyse CVs
• The AEPD decalogue for AI assistants and agents

Sources

• CNMC, "La CNMC sancionará a Apple y Amazon por incumplimiento" (3 November 2026): https://www.cnmc.es/prensa/sancionador-apple-amazon-20261103