The proposed digital markets act (DMA) : a legal and policy review

Abstract

In December 2020, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was proposed. It was prepared by the European Commission (EC) following several years of work. The DMA attempts to improve ‘fairness’ and ‘contestability’ in the digital sector. The DMA acknowledges that some companies designated as ‘gatekeepers’ maintain power over ‘core platform services’ by virtue of incumbency advantages or bad business behaviour. The DMA additionally worries about extension of gatekeepers’ control over ‘ancillary services’ and about incipient gatekeeping positions resulting from tipping effects. The DMA states that it is built on ‘strong evidence’ of high concentration, trading partner dependence, and unfair conduct. The DMA foresees that targeted regulation of gatekeepers’ behaviour will promote the emergence of alternative platforms, improve innovation levels, and drive prices down in the digital sector. The DMA covers eight types of core platform services: online intermediation services (including software application stores), online search engines, social networking, video sharing platform services, number independent interpersonal electronic communications services, operating systems, cloud services, and advertising services.