Sustainability of “Traditional Antitrust” under the Challenge of “Sustainability” and Digitization

Abstract

Antitrust law arose from political pressures and has been subject to political pressures all the time. Recently, the slogan of the digital and economic transformation of society has been spread and there have been discussions about the impact of this social trend on the nature and goals of competition law. The digitalization of antitrust itself does not affect the already rather controversial debate on the goals of competition law. While digitalization does not change the goals of competition law, and competition law “only” has to deal with the challenge of adapting to technological developments within its tool-box, the so-called sustainability is associated with pressures to change and expand the goals of antitrust themselves. However, the protection of competition and consumer welfare must remain a priority, and competition authorities should not be forced to pursue a political agenda outside their remit under the pretext of a significant social change. Considerations of the so-called sustainability, however defined, must be addressed in the context of a classical competitive analysis, which provides enough flexibility to do so even today