EC Expert Group Publishes Progress Reports On Online Platform Economy

The independent expert group of the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy has published today three draft progress reports, and are seeking stakeholder feedback. The deadline for feedback is 8 September 2020.

The three draft reports cover the major aspects of data access, differentiated treatment and methodological ideas relating to the question on how best to measure key aspects of the online platform economy.

These preliminary reports point to imbalances in market power in the relationship between online platforms and their users in terms of both access to, and the use of data, as well as discrimination as a potential source of issues. The measurement report provides a section on methodology and a set of key relevant economic indicators that help to underpin these findings

The progress reports will feed into the Commission’s current work priorities in the digital area as announced in the Commission’s Communication (.pdf) on Shaping Europe’s Digital Future as well as in its data strategy (.pdf). They will provide evidence for the upcoming initiative on the ex-ante regulation of platforms with significant network effects acting as gatekeepers as part of the Digital Services Act package.

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