Editorial: Competition and Regulatory Trends in Digital Markets

Abstract

The contributions submitted to the present issue of the Competition Law Review were presented at the 26th Workshop on ‘Competition and Regulatory Trends in Digital Markets’ on the 14th of April 2016. The workshop, which was held at the Lisbon Law School in conjunction with its Jean Monnet Chair in Economic Regulation in the European Union, continues a tradition that has been established and nurtured by the Competition Law Scholars Forum.

In recent years, the debate over anti-trust intervention in digital markets has generated many controversies, and ultimately tensions, among competition academics and practitioners. Most commentators have been divided on the substance – some with compelling reasons, others with rather personal ones - as well as on the shifting of direction by the European Commission from its previously proposed commitments to its recent record breaking €2.42 billion antitrust fine imposed on Google. The first two articles contribute to this debate, first, regarding the challenges raised by finding the proper definition of digital markets, and second, regarding the potential to identify a relevant market for services that are provided free of charge. Moving on from the discussion of ex post competition intervention, the third article focuses on the ex-ante regulatory framework in electronic communications.

Keywords: competition law, digital markets, antitrust law