New competences of AMO in the field of digital markets

President Zuzana Čaputová signed an amendment to the Act on the Protection of Competition today, granting the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (AMO) new rights and competences related to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The goal of the DMA is to ensure fair competition in the field of digital markets. "The DMA is the European response to the fact that in the last decade, a few large companies began to dominate the entire digital space. These companies have become a necessary partner for anyone, who wants to do business in this space. The purpose of the DMA is therefore to ensure the openness of digital markets for the development of a healthy competitive environment", according to the chairman of the AMO Juraj Beňa.

The amendment to the Act reflects the new tasks that the AMO will be obliged to fulfill on the basis of the DMA. The European Commission (EC), which is the only authority to enforce the rules according to the DMA, will be able to request support from the AMO, for example, in market surveys. According to Beňa, the AMO "will become a full-fledged partner of the EC in enforcing the rules arising from the DMA and, at the same time, will strengthen its capacities for the effective application of competition rules in the field of digital markets."