Belgian Competition Authority Publishes Digital Markets Act Guide for Technology Challengers
- 23/12/2024
- News
On 18 December 2024, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) published what it calls a “short guide for tech challengers” (the Guide) which discusses the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the benefits which the DMA is intended to bring to the digital sector in terms of innovation and competition by reducing entry and expansion barriers and improving fairness in the dealings of third parties with specific gatekeepers, the largest digital platforms in Europe (see, English version attached). These were designated by the European Commission (the Commission) and form a group which currently includes Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft. The DMA regulates several digital services of these platforms earmarked as core platform services.
On 24 June 2024, the BCA had already published a draft of its Guide for comments (see, VBB Belgian Antitrust Watch of 25 June 2024). The final version of the Guide largely mirrors this earlier published version and continues to reflect the BCA’s desire to become one of the parties that play an active role in its enforcement. This is evidenced by the section dealing with the application and enforcement of the DMA by national competition authorities (NCAs) (at p. 15) which is longer than before. When describing the possible functions of NCAs after making a preliminary assessment and/or investigation of indications or complaints received, the Guide distinguishes between three levels of involvement of the NCA: (i) the NCA may transmit relevant information to the Commission; (ii) it may support the Commission in monitoring compliance and participating in market investigations by carrying out inspections, conducting interviews, and collecting information; or (iii) it may pursue its own enforcement actions before referring the file to the Commission for a final decision under the DMA.
The BCA welcomes feedback and inquiries at [email protected].
