DRAFT DIGITAL ECONOMY REPORT OF BRICS ANTIMONOPOLY BODIES WAS DISCUSSED IN BRAZIL
Upon refinement, the results of the joint project will be presented at the BRICS Competition Conference
On 31 July 2019, the second meeting of BRICS International Working Group for developing competition on digital markets discussed the first draft of a report on antimonopoly regulation in digital economy.
FAS was represented by Anna Atanasian, Deputy Head of International Information Communications Unit, Department of International Economic Cooperation.
“The competition authorities of BRICS economies started working on the report last year, after the first meeting of the Working Group in Sao Paolo in October 2018. Each agency prepared a brief review of the most interesting and important antimonopoly cases related to the “digital” field as well as legislative changes and initiatives in this area to be included in the report”, described Anna Atanasian.
The draft law contains particular characteristics by BRICS economies and a comparative analysis of the challenges facing BRICS antimonopoly regulators such as Big Data, price algorithms, acquisition of start-ups by incumbents, breakthrough innovations, etc., as well as an analysis of the existing and potential mechanisms of resolving them.
“The world landscape is changing rapidly; globalization and digitalization of the economy are gaining momentum pretty fast. Therefore, even the scope of work on preparing the report, undertaken by us last year now needs additions and corrections. Talking about FAS, recently we have implemented numerous digital initiatives, and no fewer are planned for the near future. Other antimonopoly bodies of BRICS countries also have rich experiences in the field of digital economy and are aware of the importance to continue working on the report”, commented Anna Atanasian.
Members of the Working Group agreement to make the required changes to the draft report and discuss the preliminary results of the joint project at the VI BRICS Competition Conference in Moscow on 16-19 September 2019.
Background:
The co-chairs of the International Working Group for developing competition on digital markets are the competition authorities of Brazil and Russia. The decision to form the Working Group was made at the meeting of BRICS antimonopoly bodies in Brasilia in 2017.
BRICS competition authorities recognized the need to adopt competition law and enforcement to the new digital realities and agreed to prepare a report on digital economy.