Taken from”The Legal Newspaper”, the legal information newspaper of the Wolters Kluwer Italia group and edited by Cedam, Utet Giuridica, Leggi d'Italia and Ipsoa.

On December 15, 2020, the European Commission presented two proposals for regulations relating to digital markets, the 'Digital Services Act' and the 'Digital Markets Act'. The latter aims to identify and prohibit certain unfair practices, where they are carried out by so-called 'gatekeepers' platforms. The proposed Regulation therefore defines both the characteristics that a platform must have to be considered a “gatekeeper” and the conduct that, in this case, is prohibited.

On December 15, 2020, the European Commission published two proposals for Regulations — the”Digital Services Act” and the”Digital Markets Act” — both part of an ambitious plan to review the rules relating to digital markets.

As stated by Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, the two proposals pursue common objectives, namely to ensure that - within the European Union - consumers have access to a wide choice of secure products and services online and that companies can compete in a free and fair online market, just like what they do offline.

Specifically, The 'Digital Markets Act' intends to address and resolve the negative consequences caused by certain conduct, when they are held by so-called 'gatekeepers' platforms, that is, from those platforms that, thanks to their consolidated and lasting position, play the role of guardians of the single market.

Consequently, the objective of the 'Digital Markets Act' is to better regulate the activity of these 'gatekeepers' platforms, imposing additional obligations and prohibitions on them Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector. In the preamble to the proposed regulation, the Commission clarifies how these obligations and prohibitions must be limited to what is necessary and justified to address the problem deriving from the recurrence of certain unfair practices perpetrated by “gatekeepers” and to ensure the contestability of platform services basic information provided by them. In line with this consideration, in Article 1 of the “Digital Markets Act”, it is specified that member states must not impose on “gatekeepers” platforms - through legislative or administrative provisions - additional obligations aimed at guaranteeing free and fair markets.

The platforms that meet the objective requirements to be considered 'gatekeepers', the new rules provided for by the 'Digital Markets Act' and, in particular, by Chapter III of the same will apply. Specifically, the proposal places a series of obligations and prohibitions for 'gatekeepers' platforms (in a system that we can define as' dos' and 'don'ts').

By way of example, these 'gatekeepers' platforms must: allow third parties to interact with their services at certain times; allow business users to access data generated by themselves through the use of the platform; provide advertising companies that operate on the platform with tools and information necessary to carry out your own independent verification relating to advertisements; and allowing business users to promote their offer and to conclude contracts with their customers even outside the platform.

Analyzing now the prohibitions, the “gatekeepers” platforms will not be able, among other things: to treat the services and products offered by them in a more favorable way than similar services or products offered by third parties on the platform; prohibit consumers from connecting with business users outside the platform; and prevent users from uninstalling any pre-installed software or application, if they wish.

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