EUTA leadership interviewed on the DMA and ensuring fair competition

The EU’s digital markets act should allow European scale-ups to ‘compete fairly’

This was the main message delivered by EUTA’s President Kristin Skogen Lund (CEO of Schibsted) and Chair Magdalena Piech (Head of Regulatory Affairs at Allegro) to MLex Editor-in-Chief Lewis Crofts in an interview published earlier this week. 

The exchange was part of a series of interviews following the publication by the EUTA of its official reaction to the so-called ‘Digital Markets Act’ (DMA) draft regulation presented by the European Commission in December 2020. 

Both leaders reiterated the EUTA’s support to the EU’s harmonised approach on regulating dominant digital ‘gatekeeper’ platforms while recalling that European scale-ups want to be able to compete on ‘equal terms’.

      • Skogen Lund praised the proposal, saying it “really captures the concerns of European tech companies,” noting that about 5 percent of the text needed fine-tuning.”

      • “We are not in the position to ask for protection in any way. We want to have equal terms to compete,” added Magdalena Piech.

While EUTA Chair Magdalena Piech explained that the definitions of ‘gatekeepers’ and ‘users’ still need to be clarified to appropriately reflect business realities, she also insisted that the regulation should have swift procedures in place to be effective in ensuring fair competition. 

EUTA President Kristin Skogen Lund also emphasised the importance for smaller business partners to keep control over their own data if they want to grow and get a chance to compete with larger platforms in the digital space. 

The EUTA will continue to raise the voice of European scale-ups to make sure the terms and conditions in the digital economy are being set in the interest of both businesses and users, and remain clear for everyone. 

About the EUTA

The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) brings together and gives a voice to the major European digital champions, scaleups and leading start-ups. We believe that Europe is good at tech and our sector is driving jobs and growth across the continent. With an overarching goal of fostering innovation in Europe, EUTA members are keen to provide expert insights to the EU institutions and promote EU competitiveness in the global tech space.