CDM
Coalition for Competitive Digital Markets
The current Digital Markets Act is not enough. We need better rules to make digital markets open and contestable.

We are a coalition of 60 companies coming from 16 countries (12 EU Member States).
Join us if you are a technology firm in the European market and support open, interoperable and competitive markets.
The web was built as an open decentralised platform and has now been taken over by big corporations. It is time for the pendulum to swing back the other way. By enabling interoperability we will give choice to the user again and open up the markets to innovation.
Amandine Le Pape, COO - Element
The European internet industry could grow by offering better, open source alternatives to the walled gardens of the dominant players, giving more choice to consumers and creating jobs and opportunities. However, this requires restoring fair competition by mandating the adoption of interoperability through open standards – one of the original principles of the internet.
Vittorio Bertola, Head of Policy & Innovation - Open-Xchange
Gatekeepers cement their market dominance through a number of tactics, not least a thorough understanding of consumer behaviour and psychology. Using pre-installed apps is a prime example of this. They know that 95% of users never change default settings, meaning they can exploit “pre-installation bias” to lock consumers into using their services and shut startups out of the market. The only way to counter this is an effective ban on the pre-installing of default apps, giving users a choice over the core services they use. When presented with a choice, we know people make very different decisions and this choice is fundamental if we want to build a market with fair competition between gatekeepers and European digital SMEs.
Andy Yen, CEO - Proton AG
We are partnering up with a group of other industry players to bring attention to the unbalanced relationship between smaller digital players and the large dominant digital companies. We believe that all companies should play by fair rules.
Dr Oliver Grün, President - European DIGITAL SME Alliance
Freedoms flourish in the absence of walls, and where there is interoperability and choice. Surveillance capitalism does not. Mojeek provides search free of surveillance, and with its own European search engine stack.
Colin Hayhurst, CEO - Mojeek
Interoperability is key to tech competition. Compatible systems, and legal frameworks that enable them, are vital in combating tech concentration. For Mailfence, privacy and interoperability are not just features but at the heart of our design philosophy.
Patrick De Schutter, Managing Director - Mailfence
We believe in equal opportunities and fair competition, in order for every company, irrespectively of its size, to contribute with its vision to an open and innovative European Digital Market. It’s time to promote interoperability and freedom of choice for all users.
Konstantinos Papapanagiotou, Managing Director - RENVIS
There is a great opportunity for more innovation and renewal in the European Digital Market, if a level playing field can be achieved. Interoperability and consumer choice are key for the EU digital economy in this regard.
Frank Karlitschek, CEO - Nextcloud GmbH
Purpose

Our purpose is to advance fairness and openness in European digital markets, at a time where a few gatekeepers can make and break the rules and where incumbents have very little space to grow and innovate. Our coalition is made of 60 tech companies from 16 countries (12 EU Member States) as well as the European DIGITAL SME Alliance, a business association of more than 45,000 digital SMEs. It was originally created in the context of the debate on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to give a stronger voice to those who are not always heard by policymakers. We will keep on doing so on a diverse range of EU digital policy files.

Vision

By promoting fairness in digital markets, we want to create a level playing field in Europe and beyond, making sure that small companies can grow based on merit and innovation. Doing so will unleash Europe’s economic potential, empowering market challengers to ultimately stand a chance for becoming global tech leaders.

Mission

Our coalition is acting as an intermediary, allowing the voices of mainly small and medium-sized businesses to be heard by politicians, namely EU policymakers and regulators. We are willing to continue engaging with digital policy by promoting some key principles that are instrumental to create a more competitive environment. Amongst them, we seek to enable the emergence of new businesses and restore the current imbalances of market power in the EU by promoting interoperability and the prohibition of harmful self-preferencing via bundling practices.

Principles

Principle 1: We fight for open digital markets Our vision of the internet is different. While tech giants want to capture users and retain them in their ‘walled gardens’, we are advocating for openness and an online environment where users can freely choose the provider they trust and which aligns with their values, use the services they want, support the companies that bring the most value to them and allow us to further push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Principle 2: We want Europe to become the place where innovation happens Europe is already a continent where talents gather and develop the products and services of tomorrow. By setting the right regulatory environment, the European Union can however become the one place that leaders and innovators look at if they seek to create a business, as well as set an example for the rest of the world to follow. The adoption of GDPR, the Digital Markets Act, and other digital files being currently discussed such as the Data Act, already demonstrate Europe’s leadership in shaping the digital world of tomorrow. We want to sustain and encourage this movement.

Principle 3: We stand behind innovative companies who want to scale-up and grow While many innovative companies are today established in Europe, a lot of them cannot live up to their full potential. In an online world dominated by a few very powerful companies who lock the digital markets, small players are forced to remain small, while big players will remain big thanks to network effects and unfair practices. Our coalition gives a voice to these smaller companies and empowers them to raise their concerns with policymakers.

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About the coalition

The Coalition for Competitive Digital Markets is an initiative launched by European companies in October 2021. It aims to advance fairness and stronger openness in digital markets, allowing businesses of all sizes to compete on fair grounds. This is why we focus on the aspects of 1) Interoperability; 2) Pre-installation & default settings; and 3) Bundling; in the negotiations around the Digital Markets Act. This is a crucial time to take action for competition and innovation in Europe. And we need your voice.

These companies and business associations have already signed!