On 6 May 2022 the Government confirmed its approach to
strengthen digital competition regulation in the UK.1
The UK is now on the verge of publishing the Digital Markets,
Competition and Consumer Bill (the "Bill") which will be
broadly aligned with the EU's Digital Markets Act
("DMA"). However, will the Bill be fit for purpose?
The state of play in the EU
On 1 November 2022, the DMA2 [2] entered into force
introducing an ex-ante regulatory framework to eliminate unfair
practice from undertakings with significant market power.
Despite over 10,000 online platforms operating and competing in
the EU, 90% of which are small and medium-sized enterprises
(SME's), only a small number of very large online platforms are
dominating the market and influencing the boundaries of consumer
choice and competition. These substantial platforms are thus
described as 'gatekeepers'.
