The European Commission (EC) is investigating allegations that Intel pressured Media Markt, Europe’s biggest retail chain, not to sell computers that use AMD processors.

German-owned Media Markt operates more than 360 stores in 11 European countries.

The original complaint was made by AMD to the German antitrust office in July, but the EC says it will consider the matter as part of its own antitrust investigation into Intel, which has been in operation since 2001.

“The Commission is concerned that Intel has put pressure on Media Markt not to stock computers that include AMD chips as opposed to Intel chips,” confirmed
a Commission spokesperson.

This is not the first time that Intel’s business practices abroad have come under the microscope.

In February, the Korean Fair Trade Commission raided Intel’s Seoul offices in relation to an investigation into its dealings with four Korean PC makers.

Last year, Intel agreed to recommendations made by the Japan Fair Trade Commission, which said that Intel could no longer reward PC makers with cash rebates for restricting their use of rival processors.