Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service Podcasts.

In this podcast, we'll talk about the Commission's plan to regulate digital gatekeepers

and ensure that digital markets remain fair and competitive for new entrants in the EU,

an ambitious plan which is not without challenges. The world is changing at a phenomenal speed.

Today we do our shopping online, communicate online, work online, we even fall in love online.

But while online platforms play an increasingly important role in our social and economic

lives, European laws regulating these new services date back to the turn of the century,

and current competition policy tools are ill-equipped to tackle current digital concerns.

That's why in 2020, the European Commission came up with a plan to regulate the gatekeepers

of the digital world and redefine how they can operate in the EU.

So, what is the problem exactly?

Well, the problem is that a few very large online platforms account for a very large share

of the digital economy in Europe. And their role as gatekeepers between businesses and consumers

with economic power and control over entire digital ecosystems makes it very challenging for

rivals and new market entrants to compete.

The increasing digitalisation of societies has allowed these tech giants to access and collect large amounts of data,

which is a crucial input for many online services and production processes,

making it a critical element of the value chain of many industries.

So how exactly does the Commission propose to end this winner-take-all dynamic and ensure

a level playing field in the digital economy?

In parallel to a series of antitrust proceedings against digital giants such as Google and

Amazon, the Commission proposed a shift from

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