Nominated EUTOPIA Connected Community: Competition Policy – Fit for Purpose in a Digital Age?
The rapid expansion of the digital economy and the growing importance of personal data as a source of market power have raised questions about whether competition law remains fit for purpose in this digital age. Digital ecosystems, with their extensive datasets and unparalleled data collection capabilities, have amassed significant market power, often abusing it to stifle innovation and harm consumer welfare. The declining dynamism of markets, abnormally high profit margins, and the slow pace of competition investigations highlight the inadequacy of the current competition law framework to address these challenges. Adding to this complexity, competition law is increasingly entangled with geopolitical considerations, as global powers recognise the strategic importance of controlling data. Meanwhile the debate on how to address data-induced market power in competition assessments continues, with traditional concepts like product market definition under growing pressure to evolve.
This Nominated EUTOPIA Connected Community, bringing together its partners Vrije Universiteit Brussel, University of Warwick and Stellenbosch University, builds on interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating insights from law and economics to address these research questions. Such interdisciplinary and international cooperation is required to address current challenges, both in the context of competition policy within our partners' jurisdictions and in our educational offer. The CC’s findings are integrated into the partners’ learning and research activities, equipping the next generation of scholars and policymakers to navigate and shape competition policy in digital markets. By fostering innovative approaches through the involvement of practitioners and academics from legal, political science, and economic disciplines, and by building on our established research collaboration with national enforcers, as well as industry and consumer organisations, the community aims to facilitate knowledge transfer among diverse stakeholders. This benefits not only researchers and students but also supports professionals in the context of lifelong learning.