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The comments from the European Commission on
Monday followed feedback from national competition watchdogs,
experts and other parties during a 16-month consultation of the
Commission's rule known as the market definition notice.
The rule, which dates back to 1997, helps regulators measure a
company's pricing power in a merger or its power to shut out
rivals in an antitrust case. The regulators use that information
to decide whether to demand concessions from the company.
Lawyers and academics have in recent years criticised EU
antitrust laws for failing to keep up with the times, especially
regarding U.S. tech giants' merger deals and market power.
The feedback showed that the current rule may be inadequate when
it comes to small, but lasting increases in prices, and in
digital markets where products or services are offered for free,
the EU competition enforcer said.
It is also not up to date when assessing geographic markets in
an era of globalisation and import competition, the use of
quantitative techniques, the calculation of market shares and
non-price competition such as innovation.
"The evaluation indicates that the notice does not fully cover
recent evolutions in market definition practice, including those
related to the digitalisation of the economy," Commission Vice
President Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
"We will now analyse if and how the notice should be revised to
address the issues we have identified," she said.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)
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