On 24 November 2020, the CJEU decided that a hotel using the platform com may, in principle, bring proceedings against Booking before a court of the Member State in which that hotel is established in order to bring  possible abuse of a dominant position to an end. The CJEU made this decision in response to questions referred to it by the Highest German Court (the Bundesgerichtshof), following an appeal against a judgment of the Higher Regional Court in Schleswig, Germany. The latter court had found that it had no jurisdiction to hear the case against Booking by the claimant hotel, Wikingerhof – a company governed by German law – because Booking has its seat in the Netherlands. According to the Regional Court, under the Brussels Regulation there was no general jurisdiction: neither special jurisdiction for performance of a contractual obligation under Article 7(1)(a) nor that of the court for the place where the harmful event occurred in matters relating to tort, under Article 7(2). ^[1]The Brussels Regulation: Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and … Continue reading

 The Court of Justice ruled on the question whether there was jurisdiction under Article 7(2) of the Brussels Regulation. It answered this in the affirmative, concluding that, subject to verification by the referring court, the action brought by Wikingerhof, in so far as it is based on the legal obligation to refrain from any abuse of a dominant position, is a matter relating to tort, delict or quasi-delict within the meaning of Article 7(2) of the Brussels Regulation. ^[2]Court of Justice of the European Union, Press Release NO 147/20, 24 November 2020.