Digital markets: 5 initiatives to strengthen competition in the world

The UK government highlighted five initiatives to strengthen competition in digital markets in different parts of the world.

The initiatives are part of a document in which the Competition and Markets Authority of the United Kingdom issued recommendations directed to the government of that country aimed at the design and implementation of pro-competitive measures for the operation of digital markets.

Overall, work is underway to consider the challenges posed by digital markets and how best to address them around the world.

For the Competition and Markets Authority, it is promising that recently there has been a growing consensus among various jurisdictions on these challenges and on the need to develop a new pro-competition approach.

Digital markets

United States

Both the Stigler Center and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust have made recommendations regarding digital platforms, both emphasizing that tougher action is needed to address competition issues.

Recommendations made by the Antitrust Subcommittee include a number of interventions to restore competition ranging from structural separations to data solutions such as interoperability and data portability.

Europe

The European Commission has consulted proposals for the introduction of a new Digital Markets Law, which includes ex ante rules covering large online platforms that act as gatekeepers, as well as plans to potentially increase the responsibility of platforms through the Law. of Digital Services.

Germany

The Federal Government of Germany passed a bill introducing the concept of «companies of fundamental importance for competition in the markets» and establishes that the Bundeskartellamt has powers to prohibit them from engaging in a variety of conduct.

Australia

The government has established a special unit within the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) to proactively enforce, monitor and investigate competition and consumer protection in the digital platform markets, and requested the ACCC to create a code of mandatory conduct to govern the commercial relationship between platforms and media companies.

Japan

The Japanese government has established a “Headquarters for Digital Market Competition” in September 2019, with the aim of facilitating discussions on the transparency of relationships with digital platform companies and the protection of privacy.

Overview of the proposed new pro-competition regulatory regime

In June 2020, it published an interim report proposing that ex ante regulation be applied to digital platforms.