Cullen International’s new benchmark looks at whether in 17 European countries there is a structured cooperation between national authorities organised or foreseen to specifically supervise digital platforms.

It shows that structured cooperation is organised or foreseen in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. The following examples are particularly noteworthy:
 

• In Austria, a joint taskforce was set up in 2019 between the regulator in charge of electronic communications (RTR) and the competition authority (BWB). The taskforce monitors digital platforms and gatekeepers to detect possible adverse economic effects of the market power of certain digital service providers such as app stores, search engines and personal assistants.
• In France, the media regulator (Arcom) and the telecoms regulator (Arcep) set up a Digital Hub in March 2020. This cooperation aims to deepen technical and economic knowledge and analysis of the digital markets within each authority’s remit.
• In the Netherlands, the creation of a Digital Regulation Cooperation Platform was announced in October 2021, whereby the Data Protection Authority (AP), the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), the Authority for Financial Markets (AFM), and the Media Authority (CvdM) exchange knowledge and experience in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), algorithms, data processing, online design, personalisation, manipulation, and misleading practices.
• In the UK, the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) was set up between all the authorities to reach joint regulatory approaches, to respond strategically to industry and technological developments and to share skills and capabilities.

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