Ecosystems
The 2023 Booking/eTraveli merger prohibition by the European Commission (EC) was the first EC merger prohibition concerning digital platforms. Booking offered primarily a hotel online travel agency (OTA), amongst other smaller offerings in flights and car rentals, while eTraveli offered a flight OTA. The concept of an ‘ecosystem’ that was used in the Commission’s theory of harm was unique. Though the concept of an ecosystem has been used in other cases, also outside of merger control, the term still lacks an accepted universal definition. Also unclear is the extent to which such a theory of harm differs from conventional theories of harm, what the standards for evidence under this theory of harm are, and how such theories of harm would affect enforcement.
In this context, we recently published an article defining ecosystems, and potential theories of harm concerning ecosystems. In this blog post we investigate how these theories might change the enforcement of merger control.
Continue reading “Ecosystem theories of harm: application and enforcement (by Manu Batra, Paul de Bijl and Timo Klein)”