352 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM 3.13. With regard to the Expedia Group, it should be noted that these companies have repeatedly requested an extension of the deadline for submitting commitments, given the existence of parallel proceedings started in Europe by various National Competition Authorities, and have also considered preparing a single package of measures to be presented before all the authorities involved. Considering the peculiarities of the case, ICA ordered the extension of the deadline several times, identifying 17 June 2015 as a final deadline. However, this deadline passed without the companies having formally submitted commitments pursuant to article 14-ter of law no. 287/90. This came to pass because Expedia strenuously defended its commercial strategy. In fact, it supported the legality and competitiveness of the MFN clauses used in tandem with its partner hotels and highlighted the different market position held by Booking, which is undisputedly the leading operator. In particular, Expedia has represented that it had included the MFN clauses in its contractual provisions as a response to a specific request from hotels, in order to solve the problem of free riders, protect their investments and ensure the lowest price to the users, in relation to a specific room. According toExpedia, the MFN clauses were necessary to allow the correct functioning of the business model adopted and the development of its technology, in order to guarantee innovative solutions for both consumers and partner hotels. However, in order to facilitate a resolution at the European level of the various proceedings initiated by national competition authorities, Expedia eliminated the aspects of the MFN clause that raised concerns, in a similar way to what Booking did. Specifically, Expedia announced that it would not sign or implement any obligation that requires hotels to offer rates and conditions on Expedia that are equal to or lower than those offered through any other OTA. Additionally, Expedia will allow hotels to offer lower rates or better terms on their offline channels, as long as they are not marketed or posted online. Furthermore, concerning the equal availability clause, Expedia will not sign or implement any obligation that requires hotels to offer on Expedia the same or a higher number of rooms than those offered on any other OTA. In general, “Expedia will not subscribe to, or implement, equal availability clauses, whether they are broad or restricted”. Along these lines, on 1 July 2015, the company communicated to the market, through a press release, its intention to modify the MFN clauses, highlighting
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==