Digital Sovereignty has become the new buzzword in today’s European policy circles. The idea itself isn’t new, but its relevance to the EU’s digital economy has reached a fresh peak. The German-French Summit on digital sovereignty on 18 November 2025 in Berlin underlines Europe’s ambition to strategically reduce reliance on non-EU actors across critical layers […]
Idealo Wins €465 Million Against Google – A Worthy End to a Private Enforcement Saga?
The judgment handed down today, 14 November 2025, by the Regional Court of Berlin (Landgericht Berlin II, Case No. 16 O 195/19 Kart(2)) marks a notable milestone in the long-running David-and-Goliath battle between the German price-comparison platform Idealo and Google. Although the awarded €465 million in damages and interest falls far short of Idealo’s initial […]
Operationalising Fairness – Making a Principle Work in the Digital Fairness Act
As algorithmic decision-making and platform power increasingly shape citizens’ daily lives, the EU’s Digital Fairness Act represents a critical opportunity to prioritize fairness alongside innovation. In this guest post for SCiDA, Behrang examines a fundamental challenge threatening the Act’s effectiveness: the absence of a clear, operational definition of “fairness” itself. by Behrang Kianzad, Senior Researcher, […]
The CMA Designates Apple and Google’s Mobile Platforms with Strategic Market Status: A Comprehensive Analysis
On 22 October 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority issued two landmark decisions that will reshape the UK’s mobile ecosystem for years to come. Following the CMA’s first designation decision on 10 October 2025 designating Google Search with Strategic Market Status (read about it in our blog here), the CMA designated both Apple and Google […]
SCiDA 2026 Conference on Shaping Competition in the Digital Age: Towards Best Practices
Call for Abstracts: We invite submissions from scholars for a conference on the shaping of competition in the digital age, taking place on 26-27 May 2026 in Düsseldorf, Germany. We are particularly looking forward to contributions that focus on the regulatory regimes in the EU (Digital Markets Act), the UK (Digital Markets Competition & Consumers […]
The CMA Designates Google Search with Strategic Market Status: A Comprehensive Analysis
The Competition and Markets Authority issued its first SMS designation under the DMCCA 2024, targeting Google’s general search services. With over 90% market share for at least 15 years and £3-4 billion in supernormal profits from UK services in 2024 alone, Google’s dominance faces its first serious regulatory test. This designation opens the door to […]
The Economics of the DMA: Insights from the European Commission’s Expert Workshop
Economists – assemble! This might have been the unofficial theme of the workshop on “The Economics of the DMA” hosted by the European Commission on 22-23 September 2025 in Brussels. In preparation of its DMA evaluation, the European Commission Joint Research Center (JRC) had assembled economic expertise from around the world to discuss the Regulation’s […]
Latest SCiDA Activities
SCiDA Submission to the Consultation on the 2025 DMA Review The SCiDA Project has submitted its response to the European Commission’s consultation on the 2025 review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Our detailed recommendations, available at SSRN, draw on two years of comparative research analyzing digital markets regulation across the EU, UK, and Germany. […]
Conference Debrief – Highlights from the UK Digital Markets Competition Regulation Forum 2025
The third annual UK Digital Markets Competition Regulation Forum by Thought Leaders 4 Competition, held on 23 September 2025, provided a comprehensive assessment of the UK’s first year under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA). With the CMA’s Digital Markets Unit having completed its initial SMS investigations into Google and Apple, the conference […]
Google and Apple mobile platforms SMS consultation results: A comprehensive analysis
The simultaneous investigations undertaken by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Apple and Google’s mobile platforms represent a significant step undertaken in the Digital markets Consumer and Competition Act (DMCCA) era. While both companies face proposed Strategic Market Status (SMS) designation, their fundamentally different business models and competitive strategies have produced distinct regulatory challenges […]