§4.2 Market definition in the presence of discrimination between customers or customer groups

88. Discrimination between customers or customer groups occurs when they are offered different conditions of supply (such as different prices or levels of quality) for the same product, for reasons unrelated to costs (117). This can lead to a distinct group of customers for the relevant product constituting a narrower, distinct market. This is typically the case when three cumulative conditions are met (118): (a) it is possible to identify clearly to which group an individual customer belongs at the moment of selling the relevant product to the customer; (b) trade between customers or arbitrage by third parties is unlikely; (c) the discrimination between customers or customer groups is of a non-transitory nature. 89. In situations when discrimination between customers or customer groups occurs, the conditions of competition across the different customer groups can differ such that the conduct or concentration in question can have different effects on different groups of customers. This can warrant defining separate relevant markets for each customer or customer group (119). Discrimination based on customer location can also be a reason to define the relevant geographic market according to these locations (120).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07