The Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) has published recommendations for improving the proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) by making it more flexible, responsive, and cooperative.
Published in December 2020, the Digital Markets Act is the European Commission’s legislative proposal for creating fair and open digital markets. With the aim of ensuring a high degree of competition in Europe’s digital markets, the DMA includes provisions for preventing large companies from abusing their market power, encouraging new players to enter the market, establishing obligations for designated ‘gatekeepers’, and implementing sanctions for non-compliance. According to CERRE, the DMA represents a paradigm shift in how online platforms in Europe are regulated.
With the DMA currently in negotiations between the European Parliament and Council, CERRE has issued a list of recommendations for making the rules more flexible and responsive, and enforcement and oversight more cooperative. The recommendations, which were prepared by a group of CERRE academics and based on a series of issue papers as well as on input from CERRE members, focus on four key areas for improvement. These include, for example, a recommendation to clarify the DMA’s objectives and, specifically, the logic behind its prohibitions and obligations. CERRE also recommends that the DMA provide a good balance between administrability and flexibility. To ensure that the authorities enforcing the DMA can learn from experience and improve regulations over time, CERRE recommends including more explicit mechanisms and processes.
Finally, CERRE recommends implementing good institutional design and allocating regulatory tasks according to the comparative advantage of each EU or national institution. “The DMA must recognise the unique advantages that national authorities bring to the table, such as knowledge of local conditions and proximity to businesses,” said CERRE Academic Co-Director Jan Krämer. “As such, we recommend increasing the role of national independent authorities and judges in supporting the Commission in enforcing the DMA.”
More information and the full paper can be found here: https://cerre.eu/publications/european-parliament-digital-markets-act-dma-resilient-effective/