Originally published July 2010. Updated June 2026.
Amazon EU is the operating geography spanning Amazon’s European marketplaces — Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, Amazon.es, Amazon.nl, Amazon.pl, Amazon.se, and Amazon.com.tr — serving more than 450 million consumers across the UK, EU 27, and Turkey. The geography has been the subject of three major European Commission antitrust cases since 2018, the Amazon Marketplace gatekeeper designation under the Digital Markets Act in September 2023, and a structural change to how Amazon operates third-party seller relationships, advertising data segregation, and Prime Video integration on the continent. The European regulatory regime now substantially shapes how Amazon competes globally.
Part of the EPR Amazon coverage. Master hub: Amazon — The AI Shopping Layer.
Amazon launched the UK grocery store in July 2010 with roughly 22,000 SKUs and a Prime-equivalent annual subscription at £49 per year — the announcement that originated this article. The grocery launch was operational test more than dominant competitive entry. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Asda already controlled the UK online grocery category. Amazon’s real European growth came from non-grocery e-commerce expansion across the next decade. By 2017 Amazon was the largest single e-commerce operator in Germany, the UK, and Italy.
The German marketplace became the structural anchor of Amazon’s European business. Amazon.de is the second-largest Amazon marketplace globally by GMV behind Amazon.com. The German market combined large consumer base, high broadband penetration, established credit-card infrastructure, and a small set of competing domestic e-commerce operators that Amazon outscaled across the 2010s. Otto and Zalando remain meaningful German competitors. Neither operates at Amazon’s scale.
The 2018-2022 antitrust era
The European Commission opened the first major Amazon antitrust investigation in July 2018, focused on Amazon’s use of third-party seller data inside its own retail buying decisions. The investigation alleged that Amazon was using non-public seller performance data to identify products to enter as a first-party retailer, undercutting the sellers that supplied the data. The 2022 settlement required Amazon to stop using non-public seller data for its own retail decisions, give sellers equal access to the Buy Box, and grant Prime delivery eligibility to sellers using non-Amazon logistics.
Two additional investigations ran concurrently. The Italian Competition Authority fined Amazon €1.13 billion in December 2021 over Italian Prime favoritism. The German Federal Cartel Office and EU separately pursued cases related to Amazon’s pricing-parity clauses and search-ranking practices. The total Amazon EU antitrust exposure across 2018 to 2022 ran into the billions. Amazon settled most cases without admitting wrongdoing and adjusted operational practices materially.
The Digital Markets Act designation (2023)
The European Commission designated Amazon a Digital Markets Act gatekeeper in September 2023, with the designation taking full effect in March 2024. The DMA gatekeeper rules apply specifically to Amazon Marketplace and Amazon Advertising. The structural requirements include allowing sellers to offer better prices on competing platforms, prohibiting self-preferencing in search results, requiring data portability for sellers and advertisers, and preventing the cross-use of personal data across Amazon services without explicit consent.
The operational impact has been material. Amazon adjusted Buy Box algorithms in early 2024 to remove pricing-parity weighting. Amazon Advertising created a data-segregation layer between marketplace seller data and advertising targeting data. Prime Video’s integration with Amazon shopping became a user-consent toggle in EU markets rather than a default. The 2024 European Amazon experience differs structurally from the US experience in ways that did not exist before the DMA.
Amazon Prime in Europe operates at materially smaller scale per-country than in the US. Estimated 2024 European Prime member count is approximately 50 million across the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and other EU markets — significant in absolute terms but a smaller share of the addressable population than the US Prime base. Prime Video EU streaming subscribers exceed 30 million, with the 2024 ad-tier rollout adding meaningful European advertising inventory under DMA constraints.
Amazon Advertising’s European business generates an estimated $8 to 10 billion in annual revenue as of 2026, against the global Amazon Advertising business of $56 billion. The European advertising business has grown more slowly than the US business because DMA constraints, GDPR data limitations, and the structural smaller scale of European Prime have all compressed the audience and targeting capabilities Amazon offers globally.
What it means for brand teams operating across the Atlantic
Three operating implications for brands managing Amazon strategy across both the US and Europe.
EU Amazon is not just smaller US Amazon. The DMA-driven differences in search ranking, data portability, advertising targeting, and Prime integration mean that strategies optimized for US Amazon do not transfer cleanly. EU Amazon requires a discrete operational approach.
GDPR and DMA together limit cross-border data flows. Customer data collected through Amazon.de cannot be freely combined with Amazon.com customer data for global advertising targeting. Brand teams running pan-Atlantic media plans need to treat EU and US Amazon audiences as separate data segments.
Marketplace seller economics improved under the DMA. Sellers operating on EU Amazon now have meaningful price parity flexibility, equal Buy Box treatment, and the ability to offer Prime delivery using non-Amazon logistics. The 2018-to-2024 regulatory arc materially reshaped the seller side of EU Amazon.
Amazon launched Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de in 1998 as its first non-US marketplaces. Amazon.fr followed in 2000. Amazon.it and Amazon.es launched in 2010. The full European marketplace footprint now includes the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Turkey.
What is the Digital Markets Act?
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is European Union legislation regulating large digital platforms designated as “gatekeepers.” Amazon was designated a DMA gatekeeper in September 2023 for the Amazon Marketplace and Amazon Advertising services, with rules taking full effect in March 2024.
Which Amazon services are covered by the DMA?
Amazon Marketplace and Amazon Advertising are the two Amazon services subject to DMA gatekeeper rules. Amazon Web Services, Prime Video standalone, and Audible are not currently DMA-designated though some operate under other EU regulatory frameworks including GDPR and the Digital Services Act.
How big is Amazon in Germany?
Germany is Amazon’s second-largest market globally by GMV behind the US. Amazon.de generates an estimated $30 billion-plus in annual revenue. The German market combines large consumer base, high broadband penetration, and a small set of competing domestic e-commerce operators.
How many Prime members are in Europe?
European Prime membership totals approximately 50 million across the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and other EU markets as of 2024. Prime Video EU streaming subscribers exceed 30 million with the 2024 ad-tier rollout adding meaningful European advertising inventory.
What changed for sellers under the DMA?
EU marketplace sellers gained the ability to offer better prices on competing platforms, equal Buy Box treatment without pricing-parity weighting, data portability for seller analytics, and the ability to offer Prime delivery using non-Amazon logistics. The 2024 operational changes were material.
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