Effective application of the Digital Markets Act to large digital platforms Economic Affairs Ministry hands over specific proposals to European Commission

On 15 March 2023, State Secretary Sven Giegold handed over a paper containing proposals for enforcement priorities to Director-General Olivier Guersent.

State Secretary Sven Giegold said: "Fair competition on digital markets and between digital and traditional business models is a priority of the Economic Affairs Ministry. Key new rules on fair digital markets, which the Federal Government has vigorously advocated at EU level, have entered into force in the context of the Digital Markets Act. These rules, however, now need to be enforced quickly and effectively. We believe that in its function as competent institution the European Commission should focus on particularly frequent and particularly severe violations when it comes to enforcing the Act so that small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers can benefit as quickly as possible."

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force in autumn 2022. In the DMA, the European Union agreed on stringent competition rules for large platforms on digital markets.

The Economic Affairs Ministry had asked companies and civil society to comment on the Act and point out what behaviour of large digital players should be primarily addressed by the European Commission in the DMA so that the new rules can become fully effective.

State Secretary Sven Giegold said: "We thank everyone who has responded to our call for comments, and now we want to help the European Commission to make rapid and targeted use of the possibilities of the DMA."

The DMA contains provisions and a code of conduct for large digital companies (gatekeepers). From May 2023, the European Commission will designate the gatekeepers. It will also monitor compliance with the obligations.

The paper on priorities lists the major gatekeepers and identifies three categories of behaviour that has a particularly negative impact on competition, especially for consumers and SMEs:

• unfair contractual terms and conditions,
• no free choice, and
• anti-competitive use of data.

The paper on the enforcement priorities can be downloaded here.