Author: Damien Geradin

Founding Partner at Geradin Partners, Professor of Law at Tilburg University and Visiting Professor at University College London.

One needed area of improvement for the Digital Markets Act: The designation of gatekeepers

The Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) is one of the core priorities of the French presidency of the Council of the European Union (“Council”), which commenced on 1 January 2022. According to several reports, the French presidency would like to pursue an aggressive agenda, with trilogue discussions being wrapped up by the end of March and … Continue reading One needed area of improvement for the Digital Markets Act: The designation of gatekeepers →

2021 was a busy year for the Platform Law Blog, but things will be even more intense in 2022

Many thanks to our loyal readers for following us throughout the year. We had a great run in 2021 with a vast increase in our audience. Many thanks also to the legislators, competition officials and policy-makers for giving us great materials to draw from. 2021 has been a year of intense developments on the Platform … Continue reading 2021 was a busy year for the Platform Law Blog, but things will be even more intense in 2022 →

The Interim Report of the CMA’s Market Study on Mobile Ecosystems :  A Great Piece of Work

On 14 December 2021, the CMA published the Interim Report of its Market Study on Mobile Ecosystems. This is a massive (445 pages + annexes) piece of work, which is – as always with the CMA – extremely well done. The purpose of this Interim Report is for the CMA to share the content of … Continue reading The Interim Report of the CMA’s Market Study on Mobile Ecosystems :  A Great Piece of Work →

The DMA should stay true to its principles, or it could fail

As readers of this blog know, the core idea behind (and the principle underpinning) the DMA proposal is that a small number of large digital platforms have become “gatekeepers” in that they operate one or more important “gateways” for business users to reach end users. In this context, the DMA rightly proposes to impose on … Continue reading The DMA should stay true to its principles, or it could fail →

Digital Markets Act (DMA): Where is the Council Headed to?

Any public official you speak to will tell you that the negotiations over the DMA are moving fast. This is certainly good news as the declared objectives of the DMA, i.e., to ensure contestability and fairness for digital markets, are more desirable than ever. While multiple texts are circulating containing amendments of European Parliament committees … Continue reading Digital Markets Act (DMA): Where is the Council Headed to? →

The Epic Games judgment is out: Some first thoughts

As most readers are likely aware of, on 10 September 2021 Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (“YGR”) issued her Rule 52 Order after trial on the merits in Epic Games, Inc. v Apple Inc. Based on the trial record, Judge YGR could not ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under federal or state antitrust laws, … Continue reading The Epic Games judgment is out: Some first thoughts →

Some thoughts on the joint NL-DE-FR paper on Strengthening the DMA and its Enforcement

On 7 September 2021, the Dutch, French, and German governments (the so-called “Friends of an Effective DMA”) published a joint paper focusing on two important aspects of the DMA proposal: (i) future-proofness and tailor-made remediation and (ii) the role of the national authorities. Like the first paper these governments published in May 2021, this is … Continue reading Some thoughts on the joint NL-DE-FR paper on Strengthening the DMA and its Enforcement →

Korean bill banning Apple and Google from mandating their in-app payment solutions moves forward

Yesterday, the Korean National Assembly passed a bill that amends the country’s Telecommunications Business Act to prevent app market business operators (i.e., Apple and Google with respect to their app stores) from requiring app developers to exclusively use their in-app purchasing systems (IAP in the case of Apple and GPB in the case of Google). … Continue reading Korean bill banning Apple and Google from mandating their in-app payment solutions moves forward →

The CMA-ICO’s joint statement on competition and data protection law– A major step forward

It is often thought that data protection policymakers want your personal data to be held within big firms’ walled gardens and shared with no-one, while competition policymakers want big firms to be broken up and your personal data to be freely distributed among firms. Is that right, and if so, what are we going to do … Continue reading The CMA-ICO’s joint statement on competition and data protection law– A major step forward →