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The EU’s Digital Markets Act: Regulatory Reform, Relapse or Reversal?

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  • Boscheck Ralf

    (International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland.)

Abstract

As of 7 March 2024, the EU Commission began to enforce its controversial Digital Markets Act (DMA). This article sheds light on the recent debate. It lists the dos and don’ts of the DMA as well as stakeholder reactions to them before tracing some of the underlying motivations and reasoning that emerge from the EU’s current policy reversal with reference to dealing with abuse of dominant positions in line with Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Following this, the paper reviews economic aspects of digital platforms, concerns about market foreclosure and essential facility as well as appropriate remedies before closing with a discussion of the challenges in stipulating and enforcing efficient rules to govern digital platforms. It is argued that the DMA ought to be rewritten to stipulate clear and cogent legal standards, return to a strengthened system of ex post control and provide platforms with the opportunity to deliver efficiency defenses as part of corporate self-regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Boscheck Ralf, 2024. "The EU’s Digital Markets Act: Regulatory Reform, Relapse or Reversal?," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Sciendo, vol. 59(3), pages 154-159.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:intere:v:59:y:2024:i:3:p:154-159:n:1008
    DOI: 10.2478/ie-2024-0032
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Daniele Condorelli & Jorge Padilla, 2020. "Harnessing Platform Envelopment in the Digital World," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 143-187.
    3. Michael L. Katz & Carl Shapiro, 1994. "Systems Competition and Network Effects," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 93-115, Spring.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K2 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines

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