Matthias Bauer

The proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an opportunity to prevent and remedy anti-competitive conduct by large digital platforms. If the Act is designed in an adequate manner to target specific problems, it can improve the contestability of platform services markets and markets that rely substantially on digital services. However, the DMA takes a novel approach to regulation, and novelty in concepts and regulatory requirements can lead to outcomes that later have...

Europe’s political leaders have in recent months called for “European industrial autonomy”. Notions of dependency, sovereignty and resilience are now also referred to in policy proposals targeted at pharmaceutical companies, with “strategic autonomy” being the ultimate political ambition. The precise meaning of strategic autonomy in biopharmaceutical industries remains yet to be defined, although the current Pharmaceutical Strategy only refers to “open...

Corporate tax laws vary significantly between different jurisdictions. Over the past four decades, governments globally competed for business activity by lowering statutory and effective corporate tax rates. Many governments provide special tax incentives for businesses to invest and expand employment. Special economic zones often grant full corporate tax exemptions to stimulate commercial development. Corporate income tax incentives for research and development...

In den vergangenen Monaten wurden von einigen führenden Europapolitikern Strategien zur Erreichung einer sog. „europäischen Technologiesouveränität“ gefordert. Die Fokussierung auf technologische und zuweilen auch „industrielle Souveränität“ durch Politiker in Brüssel, Paris und anderen Hauptstädten ist vor allem als Reaktion auf die Verringerung des wirtschaftlichen Gewichts und des politischen Einflusses Europas in der Welt zu verstehen. Im...