Ensuring Fairness And Openness In Digital Services - European Commission Designates Gatekeepers Under Digital Markets Act

As competition authorities in the European Union persist in their commitment to foster fair and transparent digital markets while preventing major tech companies from imposing unfair terms on businesses and end-users, it has become increasingly evident that the legal complexities and the lengthy investigative processes often resulted in sanctions arriving too late to effectively address the harm already done. This led to a fundamental question: Could these measures genuinely and promptly restore healthy competition?

In line with the principle "prevention is better than cure" the Digital Markets Act ("DMA") was introduced in December 2020. This legislative initiative proposed by the Commission was aimed at proactively preventing the emergence of anti-competitive effects in the digital market.