The complementary nature of the Digital Markets Act and the EU antitrust rules

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) 1 aims to safeguard-or re-establish-the contestability and fairness of digital platform markets in the European Union's (EU) internal market.To that purpose, it contains a number of obligations 2 for those providers of core digital platform services that have been designated as gatekeepers. 3However, these are not the only EU rules that apply to large digital platforms. 4 In particular, the DMA and the EU antitrust rules are intended to complement each other and generate synergies in their enforcement. 5 The principle of complementarity can be found throughout the DMA.In its recitals, the DMA emphasizes that it is complementary to Article 101 TFEU 6 on anti-competitive agreements, Article 102 TFEU on abuse of dominance, and the corresponding national competition rules. 7Article 1, para 6 DMA states that the DMA 'is without prejudice to the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU' and their equivalent national rules.The antitrust provisions will thus be applied in parallel to the new regulatory framework. 81 Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (Digital Markets Act, DMA) 2022 OJ L265/1. 2 See, in particular, arts 5, 6, 7, and 14 DMA. 3 For gatekeeper designation, see art 3 DMA. 4See also recital 12 of the DMA. 5 Margrethe Vestager, 'Competition Policy: Where We Stand and Where We're Going' (Bruges 25 March 2022).Addressing the possibility that competition law's relevance may suffer due to the DMA, see Arianna Andreangeli, 'The Digital Markets Act and the Enforcement of EU Competition Law: Some Implications for the Application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU in Digital Markets' (2022) 43 European Competition Law Review 496, 497f. 6Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) 2016 OJ C202/47. 7Recitals 10-12 of the DMA.Arguing that it is a case of intersection rather than complementarity, see Pınar Akman, 'Regulating Competition in Digital Platform Markets: A Critical Assessment of the Framework and Approach of the EU Digital Markets Act' (2022) 47 European Law Review 85, 86. 8 On how the DMA harmonizes EU and national law, see Jasper van den Boom, 'What Does the Digital Markets Act Harmonize?-Exploring Interactions Between the DMA and National Competition Laws' (2023) 19 European Competition Journal 57, 68ff.