LL4EE      Half Unit
The Regulation of Competition in Digital Markets

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Digital markets present certain features that give rise to unique challenges. As a result of, inter alia, extreme returns to scale and network effects, it is not unusual to see the emergence of dominant positions, if not outright monopolies, at some levels of the digital value chain. In such instances, a traditional approach to antitrust law enforcement may not deliver the expected outcomes. Competition authorities may find themselves behaving as regulatory agencies, that is, setting prices and dictating the conditions of access to digital platforms.

What is more, merger control, as commonly understood, may sometimes prove ineffective to prevent the strengthening of the positions enjoyed by Big Tech. It has been argued that some potentially problematic acquisitions raising concerns are either not considered by authorities or (unduly) cleared without conditions.  This alleged lack of effectiveness is partly attributable to the nature of business models in digital (where potentially successful start-ups lack the ability to monetise the value they generate) and partly attributable to the acquisition strategies followed by Big Tech.

This seminar provides an overview of the ways in which competition law (both antitrust and merger control) has adjusted to the features and demands digital markets. In addition, it explains why the perceived ineffectiveness of the discipline has led to the adoption of sector-specific regulatory regimes in several jurisdictions, including the UK (Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024) and the EU (Digital Markets Act).

The topics covered include the following:

• Understanding competitive dynamics in digital markets
• The law and the challenge of digital markets
• Competition law in digital markets (I): discrimination
• Competition law in digital markets (II): product integration
• Competition law in digital markets (III): exploitation
• Merger control and digital markets (I): jurisdictional issues and horizontal theories
• Merger control and digital markets (II): non-horizontal theories
• The regulation of digital markets (I): overview and jurisdiction
• The regulation of digital markets (II): enforcement and institutions
• The interaction between competition law and regulation 

20 hours of classes in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Essay

Hovenkamp, Platform Monopoly (MIT Press 2024)

Ibáñez Colomo, The New EU Competition Law (Hart Publishing 2023)

Exam (100%), duration: 150 Minutes in the Spring exam period