Antitrust: European Commission consultation on new competition tool

The European Commission is considering introducing a new Competition Tool to ensure that competition policy and rules are fit for the modern economy. It is meant to address gaps in the current EU competition rules, which have been identified based on the Commission’s enforcement experience in digital and other markets, as well as the worldwide reflection process about the need for changes to the current competition law framework to allow for enforcement action preserving the competitiveness of markets. This consultation, running alongside the consultation on the Digital Services Act, is open until 8 September. The objective of this consultation is to collect stakeholder views on two aspects. First, stakeholders are asked to provide their views on whether there is a need for a new competition tool to ensure fair and competitive markets with a view to delivering lower prices and higher quality, as well as more choice and innovation to European consumers. Second, stakeholders are asked to provide their views on the characteristics that such a new competition tool should have in order to address structural competition problems in a timely and effective manner. This consultation may offer HOTREC an opportunity to further outline concerns regarding competition in the online distribution market. A full text of the consultation questionnaire in pdf format is available here below.