BEREC participates in the first Digital Markets Act High-Level Group meeting

Today, on 12 May 2023, the first meeting of the High-Level Group for the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was held in Brussels, Belgium. BEREC, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, has nominated six of its members  -  Konstantinos Masselos (EETT, Greece), Annemarie Sipkes (ACM, the Netherlands), Wilhelm Eschweiler (BNetzA, Germany), Tonko Obuljen (HAKOM, Croatia), Robert Mourik (Comreg, Ireland) and Klaus Steinmaurer (RTR, Austria). They will work in this Group, along with representatives from the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and European Data Protection Board, the European Competition Network (ECN), the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network (CPC Network), and the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA). 

During their first meeting, the delegates adopted the Rules of Procedure, which set out the framework for the group's future work. The meeting also featured an update by the Commission on the state of implementation of the DMA and the findings of the workshops on self-preferencing, interoperability, app stores, and data-related obligations. The BEREC delegation had the opportunity to share the Body’s views relevant for DMA enforcement and engage in a fruitful discussion. BEREC's participation in the meeting demonstrates its commitment to working collaboratively with other stakeholders to ensure the DMA's successful implementation.

Tasks and mandate of the DMA High-Level Group
Upon the European Commission’s request, the newly established High-Level Group will provide its expertise and advice to ensure that digital markets across the EU are compliant with the DMA and fair. The High-Level Group may also provide expertise on market investigations into emerging services and practices to help ensure that the DMA is future-proof. BEREC, as a participant in the High-Level Group, will continue to monitor and analyse developments in the digital markets and the impact and effects of the practices implemented by large digital platforms. The High-Level Group will have a mandate of two years and will meet at least once per year. 

What is the Digital Markets Act? 
The aim of the DMA is to set clear rules to ensure a level playing field for all digital companies regardless of their size. The rules shall facilitate innovation, growth, and competitiveness and help smaller companies and start-ups to compete with very large players. The DMA introduces several obligations for gatekeepers, including the obligation to provide interoperable messaging services and the obligation to ensure that users have the right to unsubscribe from core platform services, under similar conditions to subscriptions. Furthermore, the DMA prohibits practices such as self-preferencing (i.e. ranking own products or services higher than others) or the reuse of private data collected while providing one service for another. 
These new EU rules are applicable as of 2 May 2023, but some provisions already came into effect on 1 November last year when the DMA entered into force. The Digital Markets Act is a centrepiece of the European digital strategy and will create fairer competition in digital business, increase innovation, and provide enhanced consumer protection.