Governing the Gatekeepers: competition in the digital economy

Aspen UK

Big tech firms have attracted concerns around the world for their anti-competitive conduct. Their ability to stifle competition and innovation, and so maintain their monopoly over technology markets, has been met with increasing criticism in recent years. Across the world, regulators and policy makers have come up with proposals on how to establish a competitive, safe, and fair online environment that also safeguards users’ fundamental rights.

Announced earlier this year, the EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) is legislation designed to make the digital economy open, fair, and contestable. Likewise, the UK’s new Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will look to hold Big Tech companies to account, with the powers to issue fines for not allowing fair competition. Both regulators will seek to curb the power of companies designated as ‘gatekeepers’, based on their market-share and profits. Will it be enough to reign in the technology giants? Are competition authorities and anti-trust regulators adequately prepared to enforce the new regulatory regimes alongside existing antitrust tools? Can the digital economy ever be made open and fair?
This event brought together industry figures, policy-experts, academics, and civil servants to discuss the different regulatory approaches the UK and EU are adopting, and how their respective ambitions compare.
This event was recorded live on October 18 2022.
Moderator:

Tamzin Booth – Partner in the Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector team at Brunswick Group, and former Technology and Business Editor at The Economist.
Panellists:

Olivier Guersent – Director-General of the Directorate General for Competition at the European Commission.

Amelia Fletcher CBE – Professor of Competition Policy at Norwich Business School and Deputy Director at the Centre for Competition Policy.

Niall Mackenzie – Director, Consumers and Competition at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

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