The Digital Markets Act: Towards a Compliance Concept for Gatekeepers

The power structures in digital markets are currently the subject of the attention of legislators in various jurisdictions. This has been triggered by the rising market power of a few large digital companies (“Big Tech”), which are challenging the competitive structure of digital markets. In this article, we will focus on the European Union’s approach to regulating Big Tech – the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). With fines up to an equivalent of 20 percent of the global turnover in case of intentional/negligent failure to comply with the DMA’s core obligations, it is essential for affected companies to familiarize themselves with the DMA and to take the necessary precautions to ensure compliance with the DMA, especially as the DMA itself provides specific compliance obligations that must be implemented. This article provides a brief overview of the DMA and focuses on specific measures that affected companies can incorporate into their compliance programs to ensure that they do not breach the (core) obligations of the DMA. 

By Christian Ritz, Benedikt Weiß & Tobias Kleinschmitt^[1]

I. INTRODUCTION

The power structures in digital markets are currently the subject of the attention of legislators in various jurisdictions. This has been triggered by the rising market power of a few large digital companies (“Big Tech”), which are challenging the competitive structure of digital markets. The first legal acts are already in forc