UK’s Digital Markets Unit and EU’s Digital Markets Act—divergence in the regulation of the largest online platforms?

Table of contents

• Recommendations of the Digital Markets Taskforce
• Statutory code and pro-competitive interventions
• SMS merger regime
• EU Digital Markets Act
• UK’s wider regulation of the digital economy
• Next steps

Article summary

TMT analysis: The UK and the EU are set to take bold strides towards the regulation of digital markets in the coming months. While both are broadly aligned in their intention to better regulate large tech companies, the extent to which their post-Brexit regulatory approaches might diverge is yet to be determined. In this respect, all is to play for as they compete to demonstrate both their pro-innovation and pro-consumer protection credentials (twin ambitions whose realisation might not be straightforward). Charles Brasted, Matt Giles, Telha Arshad, Stelios Charitopoulos, and Morven Macaulay of Hogan Lovells consider the scope of these regulatory regimes and their potential impact.