Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/245950 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers No. 154
Publisher: 
Technische Universität Ilmenau, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Ilmenau
Abstract: 
The European Commission has proposed a new regulatory tool for the governance of digital markets. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) intents to limit the market behavior of so- called gatekeeper companies to ensure contestable and fair digital markets. We review the provisions of the DMA both from a legal and from an economics perspective. Notwithstanding a number of benefits, we identify several issues with the current proposal. When looking at the core provisions of the proposal from an economic perspective, five issues of contention arise: many of the provisions seem to be quite narrow in scope and it seems difficult to extrapolate more general rules from them; the economic harm of some of the provisions is both uncertain and in principle debatable; the alleged distinction between different types of obligations cannot be verified, and, last but not least, while the DMA seeks to control existing gatekeepers, the "tipping" of markets and the rise of further gatekeepers is not guaranteed by this proposal; this in turn leads to a larger critical analysis of the gatekeeper as DMA's norm addressee. From a legal perspective, the first hurdle is the lack of clarity pertaining to the nature and goals of the DMA, this is further compounded by procedural provisions and an enforcement regime with many uncertainties and loopholes - all of which tend to undermine the intended stringency of the regulation and its overall chances of making digital markets systemically more contestable and fairer. Thus, we think that a reform of the competition policy regime would better suit the need of regulating big tech.
Subjects: 
big tech
digital economy
digital ecosystems
GAFAM
competition policy
antitrust
Digital Markets Act (DMA)
sector-specific regulation
law and economics
JEL: 
K21
K23
K24
L40
L50
L81
L86
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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