Event Summary: European Competition and Regulation in the Digital Economy

Dinner and Discussion with Jean Tirole, Isabelle de Silva, Nils Wahl, Delphine Gény-Stephann, Antoine Chapsal, and Antoine Winckler

On September 27, 2018, over 150 colleagues from prominent law firms, government, and industry gathered in Paris for dinner and discussion about European competition and regulation in the digital economy. The event was hosted by Analysis Group and Cleary Gottlieb, in association with Concurrences.

The evening featured remarks by Nobel laureate Jean Tirole, as well as by Delphine Gény-Stephann, Secretary of State to France’s Minister of the Economy and Finance. It also included a roundtable discussion with Mr. Tirole; the French Competition Authority’s Isabelle de Silva; Nils Wahl from the European Court of Justice; Analysis Group Managing Principal Antoine Chapsal; and Cleary Gottlieb Partner Antoine Winckler.

During the roundtable, participants explored the unique competition issues related to the GAFA (Google/Apple/Facebook/Amazon) platform companies, as well as different methodological approaches to competition regulation in the age of technology. For additional details, read a synopsis of the roundtable discussion (in English), or watch the discussion in its entirety (in French). Ms. Gény-Stephann then discussed aspects of the digital economy and related competition issues in the context of a regulatory framework.

Mr. Tirole capped off the evening with a discussion of industrial policy, particularly the risks involved when “the state picks the winners and the losers pick the state.” He also touched on the danger of France and Europe becoming “digital colonies,” and provided what he called his “eight tips for making industrial policy in an intelligent way.”

Read a summary of Mr. Tirole’s remarks (in English); view his speech in its entirety (in French); or watch a short video of Mr. Tirole (in English) in which he discusses the market power of large technology firms/platforms and related competition issues. 

Photos © Léo-Paul Ridet