ARTICLE: EUROPEAN UNION - COMPETITION LAW - MARKET DEFINITION - NOTICE UPDATE

A new era for antitrust market definition

KEYWORDS

A new era is dawning for market definition under EU competition law. It is being rung in by five distinct developments that, together, foreshadow the future of the relevant market as a tool of competition law. A plethora of policy reports on digital markets have made recommendations for antitrust market definition, while an increasing body of case law is tackling new issues arising for market definition. The European Commission is updating its Market Definition Notice to make it fit for current market realities, while also treading new paths with its forthcoming market investigation tool. In addition, the academic debate is exploring different avenues for recalibrating market definition. By analysing these developments, the contribution explores what may lie in store for the relevant market as a fundamental analytical tool of EU competition law.

I. Introduction 1. A new era is dawning for market definition under EU competition law. It is being rung in by five distinct developments that, combined, foreshadow the future of the relevant market within competition law. 2. Policy reports across the globe—many of them from within the European Union—have called for a significant change for the relevant market as an analytical tool of competition law analysis, particularly in the face of digital markets. 3. Courts and competition authorities in Europe (and beyond) are increasingly dealing with the question of how to delineate an antitrust market in digital settings, and how to rely on the relevant market in the substantive antitrust analysis, thereby contributing to and shaping the debate. 4. The European Commission is currently in

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