Consultation on new competition regime for digital markets

 

The Departments for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have published a joint consultation on a new competition regime for digital markets and the establishment of the Digital Markets Unit (DMU).

The consultation crystallises the ongoing debate about whether we should establish ex ante economic regulation of ‘digital platforms’, with or without ‘enhanced’ competition law – and what form those regulatory frameworks should take place.  This question is a pressing priority for policymakers and competition authorities globally including in the UK, EU and internationally.

The consultation seeks views on: 1) the criteria and mechanisms that will identify which firms fall within the scope of the new regime; . 2)  a new code of conduct to promote open choices, fair trading and trust and transparency; 3) the powers the DMU will have to make pro-competition interventions that will address the root causes of market power; 4) a distinct merger regime for firms with strategic Market Status (SMS), overseen by the Competition and Markets Authority.  To designate a firm with SMS, the DMU will be required to test and conclude that a firm has substantial and entrenched market power in at least one activity, providing it with a strategic position.  There is no broadly accepted regulatory model.  For example, should all platforms meeting certain criteria be regulated in the same way?  

The deadline for responding to the consultation is 1 October 2021.

 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-new-pro-competition-regime-for-digital-markets