DSA and DMA Conference at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce: Key Takeaways

On 20 February 2024, our IPT team took part in to the conference of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce entitled “Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act: the new rules of the European package on digital services and its implementation in Luxembourg” (Digital Services Act et Digital Markets Act : les nouvelles règles du paquet européen sur les services numériques et sa mise en œuvre au Luxembourg).

The conference consisted of keynotes presented by a number of institutional players, including the Luxembourg Competition Authority, the Ministry of the Economy and the European Commission, followed by round-table discussions on the new regulations, moderated by Olivier Reisch and David Alexandre with Guillaume Dally and Alejandro Gonzalez Vega among the speakers.

The conference highlighted the complex balance between complying with regulations, promoting innovation and protecting users of digital intermediation services.

We unpack here the essential aspects of the conference, offering a high-level view of the new requirements of the legislation:

1. The first round table, moderated by David Alexandre and, among others, Guillaume Dally as speaker focused on the following points:
• The DSA applies to intermediary services, which is a fairly broad concept. In Luxembourg, about 250 players were identified during the drafting of the relevant legislation. Some exemptions apply to micro-enterprises and small enterprises;
• For some micro-enterprises and small enterprises, awareness may have come late. However, the exemptions granted to micro and small businesses make it easier to comply;
• Stakeholders need to pay attention to the relationship with other legislations, such as the GDPR, legislation derived from the 2000 Directive on E-commerce, the Platform to Business Regulation, the Copyright Directive and legislation relating to consumer law;
• Stakeholders will have to deal in particular with the following points in order to comply with the DSA: the wording of general terms and conditions, transparency requirements, advertising and the design of their online interface.
2. The second round table, moderated by Olivier Reisch, and, among others, Alejandro Gonzalez Vega as speaker, covered in particular the following points:
• While the DSA applies to all intermediary services, the DMA applies to gatekeepers, which have a significant impact in the EU Market and serve as a gateway to connect end users and business users;
• Under the DMA, certain market behaviours that have traditionally been considered anti-competitive are prohibited ex ante, such as self-preferencing, the imposition of most-favour nation clauses to business users or gag clauses preventing end users and business users from raising issues concerning non-compliance by the gatekeeper;
• The compliance with the new texts is ensured thanks to the enhanced powers of the supervisory authorities and the substantial penalties that can be imposed; and
• Both texts aim to foster competitiveness and innovation and place the consumer and their fundamental rights at the centre.