Big Tech, Small Tech, and the Data Economy : What Role for EU Competition Law?

What role does, or should competition law play in the data economy? The proliferation of data into different fields of the economy presents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth. Data permits companies to improve the quality of the products and services that they offer to consumers. It also enables companies to reduce their costs, increase their efficiency, and identify new business opportunities. Reliance on data can therefore enhance the competitiveness of firms and the economy more generally. However, there is a concern that the data economy has given rise to increasingly concentrated markets, where a small number of firms has gained disproportionate market power. Can the enforcement of competition law promote the development of a competitive data economy? This article examines the competition policy that the European Union should adopt for the data economy generally and, more specifically, for the Industry 4.010 the coming digitalization of the manufacturing process and of the industry more broadly. It explains that weakening the enforcement of competition law to facilitate the development of EU champions would be a misguided policy for the European Union. A less competitive internal market, which would necessarily result from a weaker enforcement of EU competition law, is unlikely to increase the competitiveness of EU firms in the global arena.