•A
standard requirement will always be that an evaluation and supervision are carried
out independently of the innovators. These independent controllers will also be
authorised to make the regulatory free-zone available while taking risk aspects into
consideration, or if hazards become apparent, to restrict it. A federal Digital Agency
(see Item 10) could carry out this task.
•T
he goal of experiments and accompanying research is to develop recommendations
on what could constitute a helpful and responsible regulation that will have universal
application for the future.
Furthermore, we need to bring Germany and Europe into the global market.
European business locations should not compete with one another, rather join
forces to compete with competitors outside Europe. For this reason we need a
modern competition policy that takes the global market situation into account
and is not limited to the European Single Market. Therefore,
• it will be necessary to adapt German merger control laws. Up to now, the threshold
for action has only been linked to revenue of the merging companies. Particularly
in the digital area however, even companies with low revenue levels may be highly
influential, as reflected in the high transaction prices (example: Facebook’s takeover
of WhatsApp). In order to close this gap we will introduce an additional transaction
value element to the 9th amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition;
• t he global competition situation must also be adequately taken into consideration
when applying European merger control. A market limitation that is too narrow is
not a sufficient response to global competition. The consequent risk that mergers
are denied can prevent companies from being able to compete internationally. In
particular, the Commission should also review and update its interpretation principles
regarding the term “relevant market”. Businesses would also gain more legal certainty from a better understanding of how mergers are currently analysed under aspects
of competition law.
www.de.digital
27