EU proposal to regulate online platforms

DG Connect has launched a consultation on its proposal to regulate online platforms.

DG Connect has set out three options to regulate digital platforms.  The lightest touch approach would be EU ‘soft law’ designed to incentivise industry-led initiatives such as voluntary standards and monitoring of online activity.

More radical options could take the form of new legislation that might include prohibiting certain ‘problematic’ business-to-platform commercial practices or the creation of a new regulatory framework for online platforms that would apply in parallel to competition law.  The latter option could also include a dedicated EU-led regulator for digital platforms.

DG Connect is concerned that there is inequality of bargaining power weighted towards digital platforms where some smaller retailers are experiencing discrimination. It has cited examples such as Apple, Amazon and Google app stores.

There has been some speculation that the proposal represents a stand-off between DG Connect and DG-Competition, creating the potential for confusion between the roles of regulation and competition law in the digital world.  A closer reading, however, suggests that the Commission is concerned about the potential for inconsistency and fragmentation in the rules in the different member states and that it is seeking to promote a unified approach as part of its digital single market agenda.

The Commission is seeking comments by 22 November 2017

See, further:  https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2017-5222469_en