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Recent developments in news markets and what they mean for competition law and regulation
Continue reading: Recent developments in news markets and what they mean for competition law and regulationOver the past few weeks, two important developments have taken place that affect news (and, more broadly, content) markets. Both these developments concern Google. First, Google published the result of an experiment it had conducted to assess whether news content is valuable to its properties. Second, Google announced that it would start providing its AI…
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The judgment of the CJEU in Android Auto: Redefining the essential facilities doctrine for the digital economy
Continue reading: The judgment of the CJEU in Android Auto: Redefining the essential facilities doctrine for the digital economyOn 25 February 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) delivered its judgment in Android Auto, which refined the so-called essential facilities doctrine. This doctrine is one of the most debated concepts in (EU) competition law because it challenges the freedom of dominant undertakings to conduct a business by imposing an obligation to…
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The Recent ASG 2 Ruling: the Court of Justice of the EU Confirms the Right of Consumers and Undertakings to Bundle their Damages Claims in the Absence of a Collective Action Mechanism
Continue reading: The Recent ASG 2 Ruling: the Court of Justice of the EU Confirms the Right of Consumers and Undertakings to Bundle their Damages Claims in the Absence of a Collective Action MechanismAntitrust damages claimants, both in Germany and the rest of the European Union (“EU”), have reasons to rejoice. In its ASG 2 ruling delivered on 28 January 2025 (hereafter the “Ruling” )1, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) ruled, in essence, that in the absence of an effective collective action…
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US/EU relations and the digital regulation acquis: bridging the gap
Continue reading: US/EU relations and the digital regulation acquis: bridging the gapOver the past few weeks, there has been a growing concern regarding the potential impact of geo-political developments on EU regulations, notably regulations for digital markets. More recently, on 23 February 2025, the Committee on the Judiciary of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to EVP Ribera to (a) inform the European Commission…
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Looking ahead at private enforcement of the DMA and why the DB Station judgment does not hinder standalone damages claims
Continue reading: Looking ahead at private enforcement of the DMA and why the DB Station judgment does not hinder standalone damages claimsAs we approach the anniversary of the date the first designated gatekeepers had to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), it seems appropriate to delve deeper into the (private) enforcement aspect of the regulation. This is even more fitting given the recent rumours that the European Commission (Commission) is re-evaluating its probes into Apple, Meta and…
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Meta’s Moderation Shift and the TikTok Ban: what’s cooking in the US and what this means for EU platform regulation
Continue reading: Meta’s Moderation Shift and the TikTok Ban: what’s cooking in the US and what this means for EU platform regulationThe beginning of 2025 was marked by two important developments in the digital platform landscape. First, Meta announced that it would change the content moderation policies of Facebook and Instagram in the US, significantly reducing the amount of fact-checking. However, this decision will not come without regulatory challenges on the other side of the Atlantic;…
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The DMA’s applicability to business-to-consumer services (and how content creators can lead to DMA designation)
Continue reading: The DMA’s applicability to business-to-consumer services (and how content creators can lead to DMA designation)The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a landmark piece of legislation that regulates the conduct of gatekeeper platforms, that is, platforms which (a) offer a “core platform service” (CPS), and (b) act as gateways for businesses to reach end users. The DMA started to apply in May 2023. Since then, an interesting line of case…
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Best of both worlds: Big Tech regulation down under
Continue reading: Best of both worlds: Big Tech regulation down underAustralia was an early pioneer of digital markets analysis and regulation, having investigated these issues since 2017. The ACCC has highlighted concerns about competition in digital markets in nine excellent reports during its 5-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry, which concludes in March 2025. In September 2022, the fifth report set out the concrete recommendations for…
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The interplay between digital regulations (and what it means for regulatory cooperation)
Continue reading: The interplay between digital regulations (and what it means for regulatory cooperation)A few years ago, digital services were mainly subject to horizontal rules (i.e., rules that apply to all sectors of the economy), such as competition rules, consumer protection regulation, and data protection regulation. Until recently, these rules were not well-equipped to address the challenges posed by digital technologies. As regards sector-specific instruments, digital services were…
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The EU Court of Justice’s judgment in Intel II and its implications for the draft Guidelines
Continue reading: The EU Court of Justice’s judgment in Intel II and its implications for the draft GuidelinesEver since the adoption in February 2009 of the European Commission’s Guidance Paper on its enforcement priorities in applying Article 102 (then 82) and in May 2009 of its decision in the Intel case, the correct analytical framework for rebates granted by dominant undertakings has been the subject of significant debate. The Commission sought to…