SynthesisWelcome & Introductory remarks
Mélanie Thill-Tayara
The past year has been rich in developments in the field of mergers, giving rise to recurring debates amongst the community on issues such as killer acquisitions or industrial policy.
Data plays a key role in the digital economy by creating a competitive advantage and developing new products. The question of the value of the data depends on the "3 V": volume, variety and velocity. The higher these three criteria are, the more useful the data becomes. Moreover there is the question of data replicability and the difficulty to create value with the collected data.
There is a new approach of competition authorities to the role of data and the development of new theories of harm. Back in 2008, the Commission carried out a classic horizontal analysis of the merger between Tom-Tom and Tele Atlas, without taking into account the specificity of data as an input in their business. Google Maps was not considered a credible competitor!