Episode 17- Konstantina Bania - Digital Markets Act under pressure: Enforcement, AI Expansion, and Transatlantic Tensions

In this episode, Anush and Kena speak with Dr Konstantina Bania, Partner at Geradin Partners and Senior Lecturer at Brunel University London, about the evolving landscape of EU digital platform regulation. Konstantina brings a unique perspective as both a leading practitioner advising clients across the digital economy and an academic whose work on the Digital Markets Act has shaped understanding of this landmark legislation. We discuss whether the DMA has delivered on its promise to be more effective than traditional competition enforcement, drawing on Konstantina's direct involvement in proceedings concerning Apple's designation. The conversation then turns to the Commission's consultations on extending the DMA to cloud infrastructure and AI foundation models, exploring whether a framework designed for consumer-facing platforms can adapt to these new technological contexts. We also examine tensions between the DMA and other EU instruments, including the GDPR and consumer protection rules, revisiting arguments from Konstantina's influential 2022 article on the "myth of the without prejudice clause." The episode concludes with a discussion of escalating transatlantic friction over the DMA and DSA, following Konstantina's Concurrences award-nominated response to the US House Judiciary Committee's characterisation of EU digital regulation as protectionist.