The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) welcomes the opportunity to provide comments on the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) draft digital markets competition regime guidance. Representing nearly 400 members globally, SIIA emphasizes the importance of fostering a competitive environment that promotes innovation and consumer benefits. SIIA expresses concerns about the vagueness of the Draft Guidance and the potential for broad discretionary power by the CMA, which could lead to significant rule of law and due process issues.
SIIA highlights that the Draft Guidance lacks clear definitions of critical terms and fails to provide specific guidelines for businesses designated as having Strategic Market Status (SMS). The association urges the CMA to offer more detailed and transparent guidance on compliance expectations, evidence requirements, and the evaluation of SMS criteria. SIIA also recommends that the CMA revise its approach to ensure that any conduct requirements or pro-competition interventions are proportionate and clearly justified to avoid unnecessary negative impacts on businesses and innovation.
