<p>It can be read from the EC treaty that the European Community shall have as its task to promote competition throughout the Community. Competition law exists to ensure competition in a free market, as competition is believed to bring such benefits as efficiency, low prices and innovation. Article 82 EC is meant to promote competition and is also meant to prevent anti-competitive behaviour. For Article 82 EC to be applicable several requisites must be met and one of them is that the undertaking must be in a dominant position. It is no easy task to establish dominance and there are no clear guidelines as how to do so.</p><p>In the United Brands case the ECJ provided a definition of dominance stating that dominance was economic strength enjoyed by an undertaking which enabled it to prevent effective competition and to behave to an appreciable extent independently. Subsequently, in Hoffman La Roche it was stated that some competition does not prevent the undertaking from being dominant.</p><p>One important element in the assessment of dominance is the market share data. However, mere numbers cannot determine dominance and other factors must be taken into account. It is the effect on the market the undertaking has that is of interest and not merely its market share. Such factors may strengthen or weaken the undertaking’s market position. Important to note is that there is no exhaustive list of factors the Community authorities could take into consideration when assessing dominance.</p><p>Through the years, there has been much criticism directed against the application of Article 82 EC and several commentators have argued that it is applied too arbitrary, and that there is no formalistic approach. The Commission has acknowledged the fact that the current case law under Article 82 EC is controversial and is currently working on a review of the provision. It is however doubtful whether the review will have much impact considering that the Commission is bound by existing case law, but possibly it could encourage a development in the future.</p>

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It can be read from the EC treaty that the European Community shall have as its task to promote competition throughout the Community. Competition law exists to ensure competition in a free market, as competition is believed to bring such benefits as efficiency, low prices and innovation. Article 82 EC is meant to promote competition and is also meant to prevent anti-competitive behaviour. For Article 82 EC to be applicable several requisites must be met and one of them is that the undertaking must be in a dominant position. It is no easy task to establish dominance and there are no clear guidelines as how to do so. In the United Brands case the ECJ provided a definition of dominance stating that dominance was economic strength enjoyed by an undertaking which enabled it to prevent effective competition and to behave to an appreciable extent independently. Subsequently, in Hoffman La Roche it was stated that some competition does not prevent the undertaking from being dominant. One important element in the assessment of dominance is the market share data. However, mere numbers cannot determine dominance and other factors must be taken into account. It is the effect on the market the undertaking has that is of interest and not merely its market share. Such factors may strengthen or weaken the undertaking’s market position. Important to note is that there is no exhaustive list of factors the Community authorities could take into consideration when assessing dominance. Through the years, there has been much criticism directed against the application of Article 82 EC and several commentators have argued that it is applied too arbitrary, and that there is no formalistic approach. The Commission has acknowledged the fact that the current case law under Article 82 EC is controversial and is currently working on a review of the provision. It is however doubtful whether the review will have much impact considering that the Commission is bound by existing case law, but possibly it could encourage a development in the future.

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The current competition law is said to be adapted to the digital development that occurred during the last decade and also what will occur in the future. A strong opponent who puts competition law at the forefront of his dramatic progress is the digital giant platforms "GAFA". The digital platforms play an important role in the digital economy of the future as they enable the sharing of resources on a scale that has not previously been possible. The platforms create new markets that integrate buyers and sellers, where physical presence is no longer a requirement. They also erase the geographic market through their digital environment, which enables the platforms to reach an unlimited market. In this way, the digital platforms challenge not only the physical market but also competition law. In several cases, it has been questioned whether the digital platforms can be considered abusing their dominant position by, among other things, by prioritizing their own products or services and where competitors have suffered damage due to this behavior. In order to seek the answer to the question, the thesis has mainly investigated digital platforms and their behavior according to the Swedish competition law and art. 102 TFEU, but also American competition law, as it is considered to have influenced the legislation in the EU (and thus also in Sweden) in order to try to ensure a fair answer if it exists. The thesis thus has a comparative method in the sense of trying to get inspiration for how the problem can be tackled. In order to determine whether a company is abusing its dominant position, it is first necessary to investigate whether the company in question has a dominant position. The traditional tools that have previously been used to determine such market power have been questioned as to whether these can be considered the appropriate tools in connection with the digital platforms. The most popular tool, defining the relevant market, is presented and challenged as the digital platforms are characterized as multi-sided markets. The thesis addresses whether these tools are effective enough to assault the digital platforms as well as what characterizes the digital platforms so that it can then be decided in what way they could have abused their dominant position. The thesis also present possible ways to show whether or not the legislation can be considered to be adapted to the digital platforms. The main method of the thesis has thus been the forensic-analytical method, since it may be regarded as having a wider purpose than merely presenting the applicable law. Finally, my position is presented on the issues featured in the thesis.