Commission vies to ‘put order into chaos’ with new digital crackdown

Online platform giants will be forced to abide by a broad range of obligations as part of ambitious new plans laid out by the European Commission in its Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) on Tuesday (15 December).

The DMA proposals will see so-called ‘gatekeeper platforms’ prohibited from engaging in practices deemed to be of detriment to “contestability and fairness” in online markets.

Fines for non-compliance with the rules have been pitched at a maximum of 10% of a company’s annual worldwide turnover.

Platforms that engage in “systematic non-compliance” of the rules could come in for other remedies, including behavioral orders but also “last resort” options of divestments or breakups. However, the latter options are unlikely since those tools are already available in the Commission’s arsenal of antitrust capacities.

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In the European Parliament, MEPs generally welcomed the Commission’s proposals, but sent a clear message that there is still work to be done.

French centrist MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew Europe), the 2019 rapporteur on European competition policy, expressed disappointment at how the Commission had scaled back powers originally envisaged for the “New Competition Tool” which would have monitored markets, investigate them and directly impose appropriate remedies.

“Beyond a predefined list of prohibitions and obligations, we must ensure that digital markets are effectively monitored, with the necessary human resources and appropriate remedies. We need to embrace a comprehensive approach from competition to data power to consumer protection,” she said.

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