Gatekeepersʼ obligations vested in the Digital Markets Act

Abstract

The misuse of economic power by digital giants has highlighted the problem of distortion of competition in the online services market and the ineffectiveness of traditional competition law. This was the impetus for the adoption of the Digital Markets Act, which aims to specifically regulate the digital sector by establishing rules that ensure competitiveness and fairness in the EU internal market. The research hypothesis is to confirm the benefits of the ex ante obligations imposed by the DMA on online platforms with gatekeeper status in terms of strengthening fairness and competition, as well as ensuring the rights of business users and consumers in the digital sector of the economy. The purpose of the study is the functional description of the obligations of online platforms with gatekeeper status and the determination of prospects for their implementation. To achieve this goal, the method of doctrinal analysis was used, which helped to reveal the legal nature and peculiarities of the Digital Markets Act in general, as well as the gatekeeper obligations in particular. Ex ante obligations, as behavioral means of legal protection of the EU market against negative business practices, are aimed at preventing potentially undesirable behavior of gatekeepers, and also promote and protect intra- and cross-platform competition. It has been proven that the asymmetry of ex ante regulation, the competitiveness and fairness of digital markets as the goal of regulation, and the self-executing nature of obligations testify to the novelty of the regulatory regime introduced by the Digital Markets Act. Granting the European Commission a wide range of powers to monitor the compliance of online platforms with their obligations adds flexibility to the regulatory instrument, which, at the same time, requires further development in order to be significantly different from traditional competition law.