EU Merger Control in Online Platforms : Unilateral Competitive Effects

The Internet and digitization at the turn of the XXI century have changed the old offline business paradigm, resulting in an explosion of online platform enterprises. Furthermore, the worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shown how society and the economy are becoming increasingly reliant on the digital economy. An increasing number of mergers are taking place in online platforms, which are envisaged by the expansion of the role of start-ups and the increasing importance of digital platforms in everyday life. The efficiency of the present merger control framework in monitoring online platform-involved mergers is called into doubt, and issues on how to proceed with merger review in practice are posed. This situation provides a basis for studying merger control within online platforms, which covers a very wide range of relations. This paper focuses on the unilateral effects of horizontal mergers within online platforms. The reason for studying unilateral effects is their new nature in online platforms which requires special attention as part of the increase in the number of start-ups and various forms of activity on online platforms. Considering that the Commission is working on the provisions of the DMA and its adoption is envisaged soon, it is important to note its provisions regarding gatekeepers and their obligations under this Act.Another significant problem of the new period after the transition to digitalization is the thresholds established by the EUMR and theories of harm, which are increasingly becoming an agenda in the meetings of the Commission. While some consider it necessary to change thresholds and establish new priorities to identify violations of healthy competition, others do not agree with such provisions and argue the importance of applying existing provisions in relation to DM participants. This work provides for a partial study of theories of harm and the possibility of changing thresholds which depends on many factors, including the formation of the market itself in online platforms