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On February 2009, the European Commission disclosed new guidelines on its enforcement approach in cases of abusive exclusionary conduct by dominant firms. Fidelity rebates are among those anticompetitive strategies. As regards exclusive dealing practices, this specific form of abuse is a much-debated question both through the Commission's decisions and the European Court of Justice judgments. Thus, the European antitrust authorities' legal approach regarding loyalty rebates is often criticized as being formal rather than based on concrete economic effects. In this regard, the question arises as to whether the Intel decision, which was issued a few of months later by the Commission, evidences a shift toward an effect-based approach. In addition to the analysis of fidelity rebates strategies, this paper discusses both the requirements and the consequences of the implementation of an effect-based approach, specifically with regard to abuse of dominance cases under Article 102.