EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

Prague, Czechia

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

area of digital markets, the relationship between the proposed Digital Markets Act and the current regulation that concerns the digital market should be laid more clearly and per the current rules. The notion of a gatekeeper should be more in line with current competition rules to prevent the unfair treatment of selected gatekeepers. Ex ante rules in the proposed Digital Markets should be formulated clearly, and the possible interferences of the authorities may be less intrusive. It is also necessary to clarify the relationship between the current competition rules and the proposed Digital Market Act and lessen the administrative burden of gatekeepers. National competition authorities should be engaged more in the enforcement of the proposed Digital Markets Act to utilise their expertise, prevent enforcement bottleneck and ensure coherent decision-making EU wide. To prevent inefficiency of several provisions concerning data access, the relationship between General Data Protection Regulation and other regulations needs to be clarified in the wording of the proposed Digital Markets Act. References [1] The Decision of Bundeskartellamt of 15. 02. 2019 Facebook (B6-22/16) [2] Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 2018/1972 of 11 December 2018 establishing the European Electronic Communications Code, OJ L 321, 17.12.2018, pp. 36–214 . [3] Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information, OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56–83. [4] European Competition Network (2021). Joint paper of the heads of the national competition authorities of the European Union . [online]. [cit. 2022-03-15]. Available at: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Publikation/EN/Others/DMA_ECN_ Paper.pdf;jsessionid=556DCA51718CF2D57E1D7541695B976E.1_cid362?__ blob=publicationFile&v=2 [5] Ibáñez Colomo, P. (2021). The Draft Digital Markets Act: A Legal and Institutional Analysis. [online]. [cit.2022-03-15]. Available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3790276 [6] Judgement of the Court of Justice of 21 February 1973, Europemballage Corporation and Continental Can Company Inc. v. European Commission (C-6/72), EU:C:1973:22 [7] Judgement of the Court of Justice of 17 September 2007, Microsoft v. European Commission (T-201/04), EU:T:2007:289 [8] Lenaerts K., (2014) EU Procedural Law. Oxford University Press, pp. 563, 569. [9] Lundqvist, B. (2021) The Proposed Digital Markets Act and Access to Data: A Revolution, or Not? IIC – International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, 52(3), pp. 239–241.

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