European Union: Published non-paper on strengthening DMA competition rules and enforcement

The French, German and Dutch delegations to the Council of the EU published a non-paper with proposals to improve the Digital Markets Act (under the name "Friends of an effective Digital Markets Act"). The three-member states support the goal of the DMA and aim to re-enforce it in seven ways: A more targeted scope (taking into account the role of ecosystems), the specification of the DMA’s relation to EU and national competition law, the enablement of national rules for gatekeepers (since national peculiarities might occur in the complex digital economy), more flexibility and tailor-made remediation (to keep up with the developments in technology), the strengthening of Member States role (especially regarding the possibility to update the DMA), the prevention of an enforcement bottleneck (enabling national authorities to support the European Commission in enforcing the DMA and introducing an institution for coordination and cooperation) and the strengthening of merger control vis-a-vis gatekeepers (by setting thresholds for acquisitions of targets with low turnover but high value and adapting the substantive test to assess predatory acquisitions).