Compass Money: EU Big Tech Regulations Would “Handcuff” Booking.com
Booking.com fears regulation as EU drafts Digital Services Act. (Wikimedia)
As the EU drafts its landmark Digital Services Act set to be enacted in December, Booking.com, one of Europe’s few tech giants, criticized the EU for including it on a list of “gatekeepers” that the regulation will affect. The regulation could force Big Tech companies like Booking.com to share data with competitors, and it may even give the EU the power to break up these companies into their component parts.
President and CEO of Booking.com Glenn Fogel said that the planned regulations would “handcuff” the online booking site. “We are one of the very, very, very few tech successes in Europe. Let’s be obvious and blatant about this,” Fogel told reporters. Some experts have indeed argued that the EU ought to support its few existing Big Tech companies instead of imposing stringent regulations on them if they want companies that can compete with those of China and the United States.
The European Commission responded to these complaints, saying, “We are working on the basis of criteria which will allow us to define in an objective way who the gatekeepers are. The commission does not make legislation to target individual companies.” More skeptical observers note that the EU may be imposing regulations on Booking.com in an attempt to deflect criticism that proposed regulations only target Silicon Valley companies. The EU has been very cautious in its drafting of the law, fearing legal challenges if they target individual companies.
Early drafts of the Digital Services Act suggest that these “gatekeepers”—platforms that are indispensable for other companies to reach consumers online—may be forced to share data with smaller rivals to allow them to compete. The proposed regulation would also prevent Big Tech companies from pre-installing their own applications on hardware devices. EU commissioner Thierry Bretton told the Financial Times that the bloc may even have “the power to impose structural separation” under certain circumstances, meaning that the network infrastructure and the retail business of Big Tech companies would be broken up into separate entities. Supporters of this regulation hope to increase innovation in the technology sector by allowing new companies to compete with established players.
Fogel disputes the idea that his company is a “gatekeeper,” citing well-funded competitors that force innovation and a low proportion of hotel revenues coming from his website. Still, EU officials maintain that the final list of companies slated for regulation will likely include Booking.com. The challenges from companies like Booking.com that the EU is now facing are likely a sign of things to come as December nears and the proposed regulations go into effect.