Digital Regulation Synthesis: Comparative Analysis of the DMA, Sec. 19a and the DMCCA
39 Pages Posted: 7 Jan 2025
Date Written: December 15, 2024
Abstract
An increasing number of jurisdictions are amending their competition policy or introducing laws to regulate competition in digital markets. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union, the Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers Act (DMCCA) in the United Kingdom, and Section 19a of the Gesetz Gegen Wettbewerbeschränkungen (GWB) in Germany, are the first digital regimes that have been adopted and implemented. While each of these regimes aims to tackle similar problems, namely structural competition issues in digital markets and the power of digital platforms, they each adopt a distinct regulatory approach. This article compares the three legal regimes to identify their shared characteristics and differences. With this comparison, we aim to develop a taxonomy for the comparison of digital regulation that can be applied to novel forms of digital regimes implemented globally. Such a taxonomy helps to structure the comparison of different initiatives as to study the impact of the design of these interventions on enforcement and ultimately on competition in digital markets in a subsequent step. The article consists of two parts. The first part provides a structured overview of the provisions of the DMA, DMCCA, and Sec. 19a GWB. The second part compares and analyses the laws as to develop generalisable characteristics and lessons.
Keywords: Competition Law, DMA, DMCCA, Sec. 19a GWB, Digital Competition, Comparative legal research
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation