Technology, Media & Communications

In a significant judgment rendered on July 13, 2022 (“Judgment”), the EU’s General Court validated the position taken by the European Commission (“EC”) in a March 2021 Guidance Paper encouraging national competition authorities (“NCAs”) to use Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation (“EUMR”) to refer transactions to the EC that do not meet national merger control thresholds, but which they believe may threaten to significantly affect competition within the EU.

On July 18, the European Council approved the final text of the DMA, marking the final step before the DMA enters into force.  This followed the European Parliament approving, on July 5, the final text of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), by 588 votes to 11.  The DMA is likely to enter the EU’s Official Journal in October, which means the behavioural rules will kick in early-to-mid 2024.

On July 14, 2022, the Commission invited comments on Amazon’s proposed commitments, offered under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003, in two investigations concerning practices that allegedly advantaged its own services on its online marketplace, contrary to Article 102 TFEU. The invitation for comments is open until September 9, 2022.

Background

On July 13, 2022, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) published an interim document for public consultation on competition in the cloud computing sector as part of a sector inquiry launched in January 2022.[1]  The FCA’s investigation seeks to delineate the relevant markets for cloud computing services, identify actors that may enjoy “particular positions”[2] on the market, and assess practices that could hinder competition on the merits in an industry projected to expand in France by 14% annually to reach €27 billion by 2025.[3]  The consultation closed on September 19, 2022, and the FCA has announced its final conclusions for early 2023.[4]

On 30 June 2022, the EU institutions reached political agreement on a new regulation which will allow the European Commission to control non-EU government subsidies given to businesses active in the EU (the “Regulation”).

Introduction

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has recently published a Discussion Paper and accompanying Evidence Review on “Online Choice Architecture” (OCA). This provides a helpful overview of the CMA’s approach to analysing choice architecture, recognising that some practices are likely to be harmful to consumers but others may be beneficial.

On July 6, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) published its annual report for the year 2021.[1] In particular, the report highlights (i) the key figures of the FCA activity in 2021, (ii) the reinforced investigative powers of the FCA and (iii) the roadmap for 2022-2023.

The UK Government’s response to its consultations on ‘Reforming competition and consumer policy’ (April 2022) confirmed the Government’s proposals to give the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) enhanced consumer law enforcement powers.

Background

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and telecoms regulator (Ofcom) recently published a joint paper setting out their advice to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on new rules for digital platforms’ use of publishers’ content.