Interoperability Requirements in the Regulatory Context of Digital Markets

Abstract

The topicality of the study is provided by the new interoperability provisions formulated in the Digital Markets Act which came into force recently. Digital platforms have become a defining phenomenon in our world, which – in terms of their essence – can also be understood as a new type of coordination mechanism defining the present. They can take the form of very heterogeneous models, but in almost all of these models we can identify a number of interdependent technological, economic and social dimensions of coordination. In interpreting the role of interoperability, the study takes as a conceptual starting point the ability of different IT-based systems to work together, while also bearing in mind that in the digital markets interoperability is an economic factor directly determining interoperability between platforms and access by third-parties. After placing the interoperability provisions of the Digital Markets Act in the context of digital markets, the study discusses them along the horizontal and vertical interoperability categorisation, with the aim of providing a systematic snapshot of the first stage of a long term regulatory process.