Biennial Report XXII: Competition 2018
Biennial Report of the Monopolies Commission under § 44(1) ARC, 3 July 2018
Monopolies Commission: Digital change requires legal adjustments regarding price algorithms, the media sector and the supply of medicines
Digitalisation is irreversibly advancing in many areas of the economy. Prices are increasingly set on the basis of algorithms. Streaming services and video portals such as Netflix and YouTube are gaining in popularity and are replacing traditional television more and more. In the supply of medicines, the mail order business increasingly supplements the services of brick and mortar pharmacies. The resulting structural change should be shaped for the benefit of consumers, with fair rules for traditional and new suppliers. In its Biennial Report 2018, the Monopolies Commission therefore recommends adapting the legal framework to the digital change. Today the Monopolies Commission presented its Report to the Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Energy, Peter Altmaier.
Special Report No. 80: Fixed Book Prices in a Changing Market Environment
Special Report of the Monopolies Commission pursuant to Section 44 para. 1 sentence 4 GWB, 29 May 2018
- Monopolies Commission recommends abolishing the statutory rules on fixed book prices.
Post 2017: Eliminate privileges, design regulation effectively!
Special Report pursuant to Sec. 44 of the Postal Services Act, Bonn, 4 December 2017
- The Monopolies Commission notes almost no progress, even twenty years after the entry into force of the Postal Act, in the development of competition on the letter markets.
- The Monopolies Commission deems the creation of equal competitive conditions on the postal markets and the extension of the powers of the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) as urgently necessary preconditions for effective competition.
- The Monopolies Commission recommends a reform of the national regulatory framework and an examination of the agreements of international postal organisations.
Telecommunications 2017: Bank on competition!
Special Report pursuant to Sec. 121(2) of the German Telecommunications Act, Bonn, 4 December 2017
- Public funding of the broadband expansion should only be provided in areas where expansion is not taking place through private enterprise. Funding programmes should be customised and supplemented by demand-side instruments.
- Incentives for the commercial expansion of high-performance broadband networks should be enhanced by abandoning a strictly cost-oriented regulation of new fibre-optic networks.
- When frequencies are allocated for the new fifth generation (5G) mobile communications standard the mobile network operators should be obligated to offer wholesale products on non-discriminatory terms.
