#42 The Law of the Exceptional: The CJEU's Google Android Ruling w/ Prof. Pablo Ibáñez Colomo

In this episode, I discuss with Prof. Pablo Ibáñez Colomo the implications of the Court of Justice's Google Android ruling when put in relation to concepts such as competition on the merits. We also get the opportunity to determine whether competition law deviates in digital markets and why this approach is consistent with the previous case law.Find the CJEU's Google Android ruling here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62022CJ0738. Throughout the episode, Pablo went through a number of cases that serve as the background to the Google Android ruling. Click on them directly here: - 00:49, The European Commission's sanctioning decision in 2018: https://competition-cases.ec.europa.eu/cases/AT.40099. - 00:51, The General Court's ruling of the case: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62018TJ0604. - 07:22, The CJEU's Servier saga (Case C-201/19 P): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62019CJ0201. - 12:42, The CJEU's Android Auto ruling (Case C-233/23): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:62023CJ0233. - 21:42, The CJEU's Deutsche Telekom ruling (Case C-280/08 P): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62008CJ0280. - 22:33, My post on the EC's interpretation of Article 6(11) DMA via specification proceedings: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/european-commission-hits-nail-head-its-dma-decision-ribera-mart%C3%ADnez-6wv4e/?trackingId=XZLJXgRtQ4mSMEoE8lv1yQ%3D%3D. - 24:15, The CJEU's Post Danmark case (Case C-23/14): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62014CJ0023. - 24:33, The CJEU's Google Shopping ruling (Case C-48/22 P): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62022CJ0048. - 25:19, The CJEU's Servizio Elettrico Nazionale ruling (Case C-377/20): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62020CJ0377. - 25:41, The CJEU's SuperLeague ruling (Case C-333/21): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62021CJ0333. - 26:19, Fernando Castillo's paper on tying and its relationship with competition on the merits: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract\_id=4395401. - 27:41, German scholars in the 1950s concluded that competition on the merits cannot be made operational: https://ejpe.org/journal/article/download/688/539/1890. - 33:09, The CJEU's Qualcomm ruling (Case C-466/19 P): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:62019CJ0466. Key moments00:00 Introduction to the Google Android Case and Guest02:00 Ecosystems in Competition Law: Biological vs Digital03:58 Implications of Ecosystem Balance on Legal Standards05:57 The Role of Monetization Strategies in the Case08:14 The Role of Causality and Counterfactuals in Analysis11:10 Anti-Fragmentation Obligations and Market Strategies13:00 Objective Justification and Ecosystem Sustainability14:57 Principles of Digital Market Regulation and Exceptionalism16:47 The Court’s Approach to Digital Market Dominance19:12 Implications for Competition Law and Digital Ecosystems21:10 Market Dynamics: Natural Monopolies and Network Effects23:04 Refusal to Deal Doctrine in Digital Markets24:59 The Exceptional Nature of Digital Market Cases26:49 Historical Context: Telecoms and Digital Markets29:11 Competition on the Merits and Tying Practices31:49 Operational Challenges in Competition Law Enforcement34:10 The Future of Competition Law in the Digital EraTo learn more about Dr. Alba Ribera Martínez and her research, we invite you to visit her website: https://www.albariberamartinez.com.She also writes, from time to time, in her newsletter, the DMA Agora, about the latest developments surrounding the European regulation: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7344021393451184128.