Wolters Kluwer: Antitrust and Competition Law’s Post

Well, the new UK Digital Markets Regime, the DMCCA was finally passed - by the skin of its teeth - in wash-up! 🧼 But - after all the fanfare and plaudits - will its promise to pre-empt market tipping points live up to expectations, or will it be - a wash-out? 🌊 Read this Global Competition Review article for some helpful steers on what the private practice bar thinks the CMA should focus on, and what your favourite ex-staffer of the CMA thinks the DMU should avoid! 😉 Namely, no more red tape for red tape's sake! ❌❌❌ "Meanwhile, Ronan Scanlan, of counsel at Arthur Cox in Dublin, said competition practitioners have raised concerns over the introduction of another “regulatory rulebook” in an “increasingly crowded field”. Encouragingly, amendments in the course of the legislative process placed a great deal of emphasis on proportionality, higher legal thresholds for intervention and the recognition of countervailing benefits, he said. But the appeals standard for substantive decisions remains that of judicial review, he noted. As such, it is critical that the CMA continues to publish clear guidance on its approach, he said. Given that the DMCCA will come into force in an increasingly crowded field, with the DMA already well established, it has never been more important to encourage international cooperation, minimise divergence and avoid unnecessary regulatory burdens, he said." A reminder to submit your responses to the CMA's consultation on its draft guidance by no later than 12 July 2024. Happy to share my own thoughts in draft if helpful - just drop me a line. #DMCCA #DigitalMarketRegulation #CMA #DMU #allpunsintended #GCR #timedoesnotalwaysfly

The "Brussels Effect" is once again a global phenomenon after the Digital Markets Act (DMA) announcement. I was intrigued to work on this piece with Bill Echikson and find out more about how countries are following the EU's lead. #DMA #EU #CEPA You can find the article below:

Lucas Ford highlights the transformative impact of the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumer Act (DMCC Act), effective January 1, 2025. This landmark legislation will reshape digital market regulations and the broader commercial landscape. Here, we explore key expectations for Day One and the newly issued DMCC Act Statutory Guidance. https://lnkd.in/eRP-rH2A

From the Blogosphere: Over the past five years, there has been intense debate about whether existing competition rules are adequate for addressing challenges posed by digital platforms and what form of regulation might be necessary if new rules are required...

𝗗𝗠𝗔 𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗿𝗮. 📌 Article by "Legelata Legal and Tax" Partner Arthur Buduryan In an era dominated by digital platforms wielding immense market power, the State authorities were long in the search for robust regulatory measures to safeguard competition and innovation. The European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) stands as a pioneering legislative effort aimed at reining in the dominance of digital gatekeepers and fostering a fairer, more competitive digital ecosystem. The DMA elaborates upon established competition law principles, particularly those pertaining to abuse of dominance and anticompetitive practices. 1 It seeks to address the dominance of large digital platforms which ... 🔍 More details here 👉 https://lnkd.in/efyGe7zg #Antitrust #AntitrustLaw #CompetitionLaw #AntitrustAndCompetition #ArthurBuduryan #Legelata

A few initial thoughts on the CMA DMCC Act Statutory Guidance and what we might expect from the CMA in the countdown (or is it a count up?) to the DMCCA taking effect...

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has become law after receiving Royal Assent. The Act will provide new tools to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to address the challenges to competition in digital markets. https://lnkd.in/eHHPB-Yj

[Insights] 📰 In our latest briefing on the recently enacted DMCC Act 2024, our pan-European team focuses on what customers and competitors of regulated 'Big Tech' need to know ahead of the UK's new digital markets regulatory regime coming into force. The piece includes insights from the new UK partner Laila Wood, who worked on the draft legislation while on secondment at the CMA, as well as views from our French team composed of Michaël Cousin (partner) and Jugwal DOYEN (associate), explaining how the UK can learn from challenges in early implementation of the EU's own digital markets regime. You can access the briefing via this link: https://lnkd.in/e-kkdxgm #DMCCBill #DMCCAct #digitalmarkets #competitionlaw #AddleshawGoddard

📲 The Digital Markets Act: The EU Takes on Big Tech Crowell's Karl Stas provides an in-depth analysis of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the latest issue of Revue de Droit Commercial Belge - Tijdschrift voor Belgisch Handelsrecht - RDC - TBH (Journal of Belgian Commercial Law). The DMA empowers the European Commission to designate as “gatekeepers” large and entrenched digital platforms that control the access of business users to end users. These gatekeepers are subject to a number of specific ex ante obligations to ensure that digital markets remain contestable and fair. Main topics discussed in the article: ◾️ Analysis of the key substantive and procedural provisions of the Regulation. ◾️ Public and private enforcement of the DMA. ◾️ The role of the Belgian Competition Authority in supporting the European Commission’s implementation of the DMA. ◾️ A comparison of the new approach of the DMA with traditional competition law. Read the full article in Dutch via Stradalex ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eaK5ShAT #DMA #DigitalMarkets #CompetitionLaw #BigTech

I took a break from half term activities to provide some comments to Lexology on the Competition and Markets Authority's much awaited guidance on the DMCC. There is quite some room for interpretation of the DMCC so we had expected to see relatively detailed guidelines from the CMA building on the considerable experience they have gained in the various cases and market studies they have already carried out in digital markets. One specific area many of us hoped to see clarified in the guidelines was ‘the how, the when and the what’ for third parties interested in submitting complaints, and that is specifically dealt with in Chapter 6 on ‘Monitoring’. For example, para 6.11 suggests that third parties may wish to provide submissions or complaints on SMS firms’ compliance with competition requirements, the effectiveness of those requirements and whether to vary or revoke the competition requirements. Para 6.12 provides some useful clarity on what specific questions third parties may wish to provide comments or views on, including which requirement is the subject of the submission, and an explanation of the issue, what has changed since the requirement was imposed, what changes should be made to the requirement (including how to make it more effective), why these changes would not lead to harm/unintended consequences, and whether any transitional, transitory or saving provisions should apply.   The CMA makes clear in its guidance that it has the discretion to determine the appropriate course of action or response to submissions received, depending on the materiality of the change being suggested, the scale of harm indicated, the quality of supporting evidence and the CMA’s prioritisation principles.   But it is fair to say that the role of third parties in monitoring compliance, and holding gatekeepers to account, is something the CMA has acknowledged and explicitly recognises – there are numerous references throughout the guidance to engagement from third parties and to ensuring they have the opportunity to input into the CMA’s decision-making process.  This is to be welcomed - but, as always, the devil will be in the detail. (and my co-commentator Verity Egerton-Doyle is right - there is significant discretion for the CMA built into these guidelines...) #DMCC #digitalmarkets #competitionregime #CMA https://lnkd.in/dUZMvi3B