Two months after the European Commission published its Competitiveness Compass, we take a deeper look into its strategic vision to enhance the EU’s economic resilience and global competitiveness (following up on our first overview), namely the competition law aspects. The Commission is rather clear that it seeks to establish Europe’s competitiveness as the new “North Star”. However, what is not so clear: Through which paths will the Commission lead us on our journey to this North Star?

After the Oscar-worthy performance in its opening act, the DMA series is back with a brand-new season, packed with twists, turns, and regulatory cliffhangers. On March 19, 2025, the European Commission stepped into the spotlight with two decisive moves: First, it handed Apple a script rewrite, demanding new specified measures to meet interoperability obligations under the DMA. Second, it preliminarily found Alphabet in breach of the DMA by self-preferencing in Google Search and enforcing restrictive steering rules in Google Play.

With the start of 2025, the European Union has entered a new phase of technology regulation. Over the recent past, AI competition policy has already undergone significant shifts, with increased scrutiny on Big Tech investments, ‘acqui-hires’ being treated as mergers, and growing concerns over algorithmic collusion. This is the scene that Teresa Ribera has stepped foot on as the EU's new competition chief. She has inherited a regulatory framework built on robust AI oversight from her predecessor Margrethe Vestager. However, given that her mandate is broader than just competition enforcement and now includes the ambitious goals of the European Green Deal, the crucial question is: How will Commissioner Ribera's blend of competition oversight and environmental vision shape Europe's AI industry?

The European economy is under mounting pressure from China's rapid technological advances and industrial policy, trade uncertainties linked to the new Trump administration in the USA, and growing geopolitical instability, which impact the competitive landscape in several global markets and increase disruption risks in supply chains. In this challenging economic and political climate, enhancing the competitiveness of European businesses and reinforcing the resilience of the Single Market have become key political priorities, as outlined in the European Council's Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal.

Getting a free ride is not always easy and can be a long and bumpy journey. The recent judgment in the Booking.com case is a testament to this. Below, we summarize the twists and turns of this landmark case.

Take a seat and grab some popcorn. The DMA series, starring the six gatekeepers Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Byte Dance continues. The European Commission has been an active director who has not been exclusively happy with the performance of its main actors. Have business users or end users acted as supporting actors so far or have they only been extras? Here is what happened since the DMA entered into force through the lens of a camera team.

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time on: Real-time access to gatekeeper data for business users under Article 6(10) DMA.

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time we focus on: Regulators’ attempts to tame digital markets worldwide in the wake of DMA.

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time we focus on: access to data and services.

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time we focus on: interoperability, portability and switching.