Cristina Caffarra: “Antitrust, Regulation & the Next World Order” Event; Is Competition a Side Dish?
Dr Cristina Caffarra, economist, antitrust expert, Visiting Professor UCL.
Cristina Caffarra needs no introduction in competition economics, policy and law circles. She is an impactful and thoughtful actor and commentator on various aspects of (inter alia) digital competition law. Back in 2022 Cristina was among the first guests of our series – and that interview has been viewed more than 1.2k times. Today, in 2024, we recorded another, more detailed, conversation.
We discussed various matters associated mainly with EU Digital Markets Act and broader EU digital pro-competition industrial policy (or industrially-mindful competition policy?) As always – and even more than always – Cristina was exceptionally eloquent, thought-provoking, insightful and competent.
This new interview was recorded right after the annual conference organised by Cristina. I had a pleasure to attend this event and to see how intense and engage the discussions were – at the main scene and in the corridors. Full of stellar panellists and guests, the conference had raised a great deal of digital competition policy matters requiring further (and further) reflection. This conversation is to a large extent an attempt to unpack and develop further the key takeaways of the event. It features the following issues:
– is competition policy a “side-dish” – or “don’t judge us by what we say but by what we do”?
– two tribes in antitrust
– EU law and the Moses tablets: are the judges isolated from reality?
– Should we change the very DNA of digital markets or nudge EU vertical (or even horizontal) competitors?
– US competition policy: how some ‘conservative’ judges adopt some ‘progressive’ decisions
– competition policy & political economy
– antitrust in times of poly-crises
– arguments against technocratic perception of antitrust
– competition policy as a proactive tool in doing broader economic policy
– expending the limits – not breaking them
– competition & industrial policies: tailoring new concrete parameters of co-existence
– competition & trade policies: tailoring new concrete parameters of co-existence
– EU BigTech: Feasible? Desirable?
– competition policy and power
– good & bad industrial policy
– some DMA geometry: selecting priorities – vertical? horizontal? diagonal?
– is dominance per se a structural problem for (digital) markets?
– ticking the legal boxes/avoiding procedural pitfalls or going beyond?
– EU startups being purchased by BigTech
– parameters of “a new regulatory posture” within the DMA
– the role of legal interpretation in the context of new economic reality
– relationship between economic and political power & democracy
– prioritising specific aspects of DMA obligations: criteria, objectives, motivation?
– DMA end-goal?
– diagnosing a new academic school prising the wonders of the DMA (a message from a realist)
– are we burning too many calories on less important matters?
– is there any alternative to BigTech design of digital markets?
– how the most vocal, entrepreneurial business users trying to instrumentalise the DMA should be perceived?
– DMA regulatory philosophy: Campanella or Machiavelli?
– ecosystems: the real meaning and implications of this new concept
– blocking more mergers: implications for investment and innovation
– how pervasive digital mergers prohibitions should be
– competition and privacy
– US antitrust: personalities & new systemic features; is there still regulatory enthusiasm?
– US antitrust: how much depends on democratic/republican administration?
– recommendations for mid-career competition (recommendations for students were made in 2022 interview)