Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (Digital Markets Act or DMA) entered into force on 1 November last. The goal of this Regulation is to put at bay the power that gatekeepers in the online platform economy have to lock-in users and customers and
lock-out competitors. In other words, the DMA seeks to make the markets where the gatekeepers operate more contestable.

This is certainly an important legislative move by the EU legislature. One of the striking features, which can be observed in other sectors too, is that of decoupling the fight against market-abuses from the traditional arsenal of competition law. The DMA takes an ex-ante regulatory approach, that embeds, by way of setting out certain thresholds as markers, the assessment of market power, by avoiding the procedurally burdensome ex-post approach of competition law.

This contribution provides in the form of a set of Q&As a short and first-hand guide of the main substantive provisions of the DMA.

READ THE PAPER -> DMA Q&As