Following the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European Commission designated Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft and more recently Booking.com, as gatekeepers, making them subject to the DMA obligations. The process of designating gatekeepers has been more complex than initially anticipated: the EU Commission conducted several market investigations over the past year, and the designation of ByteDance has been reviewed by the EU General Court.

The results of the DMA implementation are ‘mixed’. Reuters has reported that the number of monthly users of DuckDuckGo, Opera and Aloha has spiked since Google and Apple have introduced a web-browser choice in their operating systems. Similarly, Epic Games, MacPaw and Altstore announced plans to launch alternative apps stores on Android and iOS operating systems. Despite these market developments, the European Commission has launched non-compliance investigations. In particular, the EU executive branch is investigating Meta in relation to the compatibility of its ‘pay v. consent’ model with Art. 5(2) DMA, while Alphabet and Apple are accused of limiting the ability of app developers ‘to steer’ users outside GooglePlay and the App Store.

One year after the adoption of the first gatekeeper’s designation decisions, this conference aims to address the current status of the DMA implementation. In particular, the conference aims at debating the current market outcomes of the DMA implementation, the lessons that can be drawn from the EU Commission gatekeeper designation decisions, and the on-going DMA non-compliance investigations. 

The 2024 CDS Autumn Conference will be held in a hybrid format. Invited speakers will primarily be present at the EUI campus in Florence. The audience can follow the conference via Zoom (free of charge) or attend in person in Florence (registration fee: 150 €). This fee covers the cost of refreshments (coffee breaks and lunch) but does not include travel and accommodation costs in Florence. Participants of the Florence Competition Autumn School can attend the conference in person at no additional charge.