Europe is now fit for the digital age as the long-awaited Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal on October 12. Adopted by the European Parliament in September, the DMA will enter into force on November 1 and start to apply in May next year.
The act provides a framework to prevent the most prominent digital companies, the so-called “gatekeepers,” from abusing their market power, ensuring greater competition in digital markets, and sparking more innovation in the industry. The DMA will primarily target the world’s most powerful corporations in the IT industry, commonly referred to as the “Big Five” (Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft).
Our experts announced these developments and discussed the Digital Services Package in their August article. Despite the critical progress brought by the DMA, questions remain regarding its interpretation and practical implementation.
Staying on top of the DMA developments as they unfold, our Senior Associate Nemanja Sladaković took part in a conference organized this Wednesday, on the very day the DMA was published, by our esteemed colleagues from King & Spalding and Kekst CNC in Brussels titled “From Principle to Practice: Enforcing the DMA” to discuss these very topics. The conference brought speakers from all sides of the stakeholder spectrum in this field, including enforcers, practitioners, industry leaders, representatives of major IT corporations, and civil society, to discuss the practical aspects of compliance and enforcement of the DMA comes into force.
The panelists agreed that there remains a host of issues to be clarified surrounding the DMA. In the following period, it will be crucial for the industry, the European Commission and legal professionals to work together on implementing the DMA.
