By RICHARD WATERS, Financial Times
Washington’s antitrust enforcers have a severe case of Margrethe envy. That would be Margrethe Vestager, who is taking on a second five-year stint as Europe’s competition chief, this time with added responsibility for overall digital regulation.
As American politicians and regulators look at ways of restraining the power of Big Tech, a tendency to look across the Atlantic has been understandable. Brussels began its first informal probe into Google nearly a decade ago, and Ms Vestager has since earned a reputation as the regulator who has done the most to rattle Silicon Valley. But her success has been mixed and it wouldn’t do to follow too closely in her footsteps. Instead, it is where the European digital chief trains her guns next that matters.
Ms Vestager’s first term was marked by success in extracting cash for perceived wrongdoing, including more than €8bn in antitrust fines from Google and a demand for Apple to cough up €13bn in an illegal state aid case (all of these cases are under appeal).
But the fines belie the fact that she hasn’t done anything to change the competitive dynamics in digital markets.h
Take Google. The EU took aim at two of its core business drivers: How it steers search traffic to other Google services, and how it uses Android to lock users into its mobile services.
Yet the rival companies who were supposedly the beneficiaries of the search case faded away long before the commission took action. And Google’s mobile services — like its Play store for apps — look too deeply entrenched in the Android world to allow much room for competition.
Cases like these highlight the difficulty of restraining powerful and self-reinforcing digital platforms. By the time regulators notice — let alone reach the point of pressing for remedies — it is often too late.
Continue Reading…
Featured News
Turkey Fines Meta $10.4 Million for Abusing Market Dominance
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Canadian Watchdog Launches Inquiry into Lululemon’s Greenwashing Practices
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Massachusetts Supreme Court Deliberates Ballot Redefining Gig Worker Status
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
European Commission Approves Nippon Steel’s $14.9 Billion Buyout of U.S. Steel
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Banco Sabadell Rejects Rival BBVA Merger Proposal
May 6, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI