Member Article

The Italian Government has approved the long-awaited annual bill on competition (“Draft Bill”).1 The Draft Bill covers a broad spectrum of controversial topics, including local public services, energy and transportation. In the next weeks, the Draft Bill will be submitted to the Italian Parliament for approval.  One of the highlights that will likely give rise to massive debate is the modernization of the Italian rules on abuse of economic dependence so as to catch abusive practices in the digital sphere. Not only do the new rules target digital platforms, but the Draft Bill is going as far as to introduce a (rebuttable) presumption of economic dependence when dealing with digital platforms that play a “key role” in reaching end-users and/or suppliers.