EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

Prague, Czechia

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

implementing other Union policies and activities. Article 169(1) TFEU is devoted to promoting the interests of consumers and to ensuring a high level of consumer protection by protecting the health, safety and economic interests of consumers, as well as to promoting their right to information, education and to organise themselves in order to safeguard their interests. Another specific legal instrument, the 2004 Merger Regulation, which allows for effective control of certain concentrations in terms of their effect on the structure of competition, also underlines the importance of consumers in the assessment of such mergers (Merger Regulation, 2004). For decades, these two approaches have co-existed without significant convergence. This has changed with the rapid development of digital end-consumer services provided over the internet (online intermediation services) in digital markets. Due to the fact that online providers of these services ‘fight’ for the attention of a digital (end) consumer, this market is sometimes referred to as an “attention” market. Official EU documents use the term an (end) user instead of the term used in this paper – a digital (end) consumer. Another relevant legal concept, “digital asymmetry concept” which emphasizes a unique position of digital markets and threats to digital (end) consumers. This term first appeared in 2020 research study for the European Consumer Organisation’s (BEUC) (Helberger [online], 2021). Competition and consumer laws are coping with these new digital challenges in two ways – by shifting priorities to the digital area and at the same time strengthening the European Commission’s (EC) regulatory framework. The digital economy has brought competition law into the limelight as a kind of last resort and safety net so as to deal with possible anticompetitive practices of the GAFAs (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) in the form of data privacy policies, standard contract terms or commercial practices (Helberger [online], 2021). As far as digital competition cases are concerned, this paper quantifies them without ambition to analyze each separately. The paper is also based on a direct participation in ongoing evaluations and critical analysis of some of the documents mentioned in this paper. Thus, the author does not hide the fact that he is using his own experience from application practice from more than ten years in DG Comp. As to the new EC’s regulation approach, within less than half a year, the EC published four proposals that will shape the digital market in the EU for the years to come. These are, in chronological order: • The Data Governance Act (DGA) (European Commission DGA [online], 2020);

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