The conceptual structure of the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) as a tool for updating Chilean Economic Law

Abstract

The teaching of economic topics for law students in Chile has more than 160 years. It begins, first, with the establishment of the chair of Political Economy and later, with the configuration of the courses of the discipline called Economic Law. The evolution that both, the contents, and the teaching methodology, in these subjects have undergone constitutes an object of study of singular importance, since the existing relationship between Law and Economics has become progressively closer and influenced, certainly, by technological advancement. Currently, the increasing scrutiny of the regulatory authorities and the defense of competition, both in Europe and in the United States, regarding the operation and performance of large technology companies, has generated important challenges both for these entities, and for the teaching of this field, to strengthen a more thorough and updated understanding of the fundamentals of the digital economy, based on Law. From this point of view, the design of teaching programs in this legal discipline must be adapted to the growing need for study on the various realities generated by the digital economy. This article does not deal with the projection of the enforcement of this legislation, an issue that is typical of Competition Law and studied in other texts, but rather raises reflections about the educational utility that the conceptual infrastructure of this law can present (Digital Markets Act or DMA). The case of this European legislation can be an interesting resource for an updated teaching of Chilean Economic Law.