Amazon on Tuesday agreed to give merchants operating in the European Union more access to valuable real estate on its website, the European Commission said Tuesday, in a deal that ends antitrust investigations by regulators who said the company had used its size and power to stifle competition in the bloc.The settlement helps Amazon avoid what could have been a multibillion-dollar fine, while giving the European Commission, the European Union’s executive branch, a victory in delivering long-sought changes to the world’s dominant online shopping platform. Under the deal, the company will also be barred from using nonpublic information it gathers about independent merchants to inform Amazon’s own product choices.The deal is an attempt to put more guardrails between Amazon’s role as a digital storefront that many merchants depend on to reach customers, and as a maker of products that often compete with those outside sellers. The dual roles have created a conflict of interest, critics say, allowing Amazon to favor its own pr …
