Minicourse: Can Antitrust Save Democracy? Insights from Europe

Two interrelated lunch seminars led by Maciej Bernatt (University of Warsaw) in this minicourse investigate the relationship between competition (antitrust) law and democracy, with a focus on media markets. It relies on the experiences of EU countries that have experienced democratic backsliding to examine whether merger review by competition agencies can help preserve competitive media markets and media plurality. It also analyzes any added value the proposed EU regulation of media markets may have in this respect. The course contributes to the broader debate on how to (better) control the market power of firms that pose risks to democracies.
Thursday, April 25
Solutions
In this session, we will scrutinize solutions to the challenges identified during the first session. First, we will present ways to strengthen the competition law regime in media markets transactions. This will include discussions on competition agencies’ independence and democratic responsiveness, among others. Then we will examine the planned EU regulation of media markets, specifically the EU Media Freedom Act. Our focus will be on the proposed media plurality test and its limitations.
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