May 2017

Online Platforms: Challenge and Opportunities

A high-powered and eclectic group of senior policymakers, NGOs, mobile-networks afficionados and digital-economy experts convened for the High-Level Working Dinner with Prof Renato Nazzini. Renowned King’s College Professor Renato Nazzini kicked off the discussion with an advance look at Rethinking Tying under European Union Competition Law: From Classic Leveraging to Android, a forthcoming ISSN publication. Member of the European Parliament Tibor Szanyi (S&D, Hungary), the rapporteur on the European Parliament Annual Report on Competition Policy 2016, weighed in, discussing the intellectual challenges of defining markets ensuring a level playing field in the digital era. Sylwia Giepmans-Stępień, senior analyst public policy and government relations at Google; Thibaut Kleiner, deputy head of cabinet of European Commissioner Günther Oettinger; Michal Mottl, economic data analyst for eCommerce and platforms at the European Commission’s directorate-general for communications networks, content and technology; Michael Quigley, Europe director at the Progressive Policy Institute; Agustín Reyna, digital team leader at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC); Alexandre de Streel, EU law professor at the University of Namur and director of the Research Centre for Information Law and Society (CRIDS); and James Waterworth, vice-president Europe at the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), also joined, discussing their on-the-ground experience with competition law and the fast-changing digital economy.