ZPP Newsletter
Warsaw, 19th April 2021
Digital Markets Act Round Table by the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers: how to make the DMA a “scalpel” and not a “road roller”?
The Digital Markets Act is a proposal presented by the European Commission for a regulation imposing additional restrictions, obligations, and bans on a group of digital companies referred to in the DMA as “gatekeepers”. Participants of the round table hosted by the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, which took place on Thursday, 8th April 2021, discussed the Polish government’s position regarding the regulation, the challenges related to its possible future application, as well as the doubts related to its practical effects.
The following guests participated in the debate:
- Olga Semeniuk, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology,
- Tomasz Bagdziński, Director of the Competition Protection Department at UOKiK (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection),
- Katarzyna Szymielewicz, President of the Panoptykon Foundation,
- Tomasz Wróblewski, President of the Foundation Warsaw Enterprise Institute,
- Marcin Krasuski, Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager at Google Polska.
The round table debate was chaired by Jakub Bińkowski, Director of the Law and Legislation Department of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers. Before the discussion began, Bińkowski gave a short presentation reflecting the Union’s approach to regulating digital markets and containing key questions regarding the DMA itself.
„We see the DMA as part of a wider regulatory landscape for the digital sector in the European Union,” said Jakub Bińkowski. “Recently, we have been observing a lot of legislative initiatives concerning this part of the economy. We doubt whether further regulation and increasing restrictions are a good direction for the development of European companies.”
In the course of the discussion, many matters were addressed, including the issue of the actual effects of the DMA on the functioning of companies from the digital sector and the usefulness of individual services, the role of national competition and consumer protection authorities in the application of regulations, or the significance of regulatory dialogue with business to clarify the content of individual obligations and restrictions included in the regulation. Cross-sectional issues were also discussed: the effectiveness of existing regulations affecting digital platforms, such as the GDPR, the approach of the European legislator to building a strong digital market, and finally, the issue of an effective regulatory framework for the management of users’ personal data.
The round table debate was recorded and can be viewed at your leisure. It can be viewed at: https://tiny.pl/r8vb5.
