Chillin'Competition

I tried (hard) to write something about the European Parliament’s non-legislative resolution on various aspects of the digital economy, including search engines (in plural). But I could not. I kept thinking about foreclosure. My fixation with the concept is most probably due to the fact that I am slowly becoming an old curmudgeon. The self-serving answer with which I fool myself (quite successfully for the time being, may I add) is that all the fuss about the EP’s resolution (largely irrelevant) is a distraction from the crucial aspect of the Google case.

In the Guidance, the Commission committed to give priority to cases leading to anticompetitive foreclosure. This is a very sensible position. The experience accumulated over the years (just think of Michelin II, British Airways or the Microsoft saga) shows that potentially abusive practices do not always harm the competitive process. As a result, it makes sense to ensure that the limited resources of the Commission are devoted to cases where negative effects are likely. Equally sensibly, it is explained in the Guidance that ‘if the conduct has been in place for a sufficient period of time’ the authority would consider ‘evidence of actual foreclosure’.

After 4 years (I know because the investigation is about as old as my tenure at LSE), I am ready to guess that, if Google’s alleged discriminatory conduct were really exclusionary, there would already be overwhelming evidence in this sense. If there is not, that fact alone should be a sufficient reason to close the investigation. Surprisingly, foreclosure has so far been mentioned only very sparingly in the context of the case. As an academic, I would want debates in future months to address this question.

In particular, it would be desirable if the Commission clarified whether the investigation is really driven by foreclosure concerns. The statements made by the former Vice-President suggest that evidence of exclusionary effects is not a precondition for intervention. Concerns with innovation as such or with choice as such (that is, not resulting from rival foreclosure) could, it would seem, trigger administrative action under Article 102 TFEU. In other words, intervention would be justified not so much because the alleged discriminatory strategies are likely to harm the ability and the incentive of Google’s rivals to compete but because they would limit choice for consumers or reduce companies’ incentives to innovate.

Relying on innovation and/or choice alone in Google would entail a paradigm shift in enforcement. This is not necessarily bad per se. After all, ideas and priorities evolve. Flux is competition law’s second name. However, if the case is no longer about foreclosure as such, the Commission should be crystal clear about the matter and acknowledge it openly. The consequences of a paradigm shift cannot be ignored and should not be taken lightly. In spite of the growing popularity of the concept (more about it in the coming weeks), I have not seen anything close to a fully-fledged and internally coherent analytical framework based on choice. Very much the same could be said in relation to innovation. Relying on a standard that lacks clear boundaries would harm legal certainty and would make it difficult for firms to anticipate the outcome of administrative action. These are, let us not forget it, the reasons why the Guidance was adopted in the first place and why it was made to revolve around foreclosure.

And now from foreclosure to disclosure, which is quickly becoming as popular as choice and innovation: nothing to disclose.

Pablo