Competition Rules in the Digital Age: A Comparative Study of EU and US Approaches and Their Impact on Arab Legal Systems

Abstract

Background: The digital revolution has fundamentally reshaped the global economic landscape, giving rise to dominant technology platforms such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft. These entities function as digital gatekeepers across interconnected ecosystems encompassing search, social media, e-commerce, cloud computing, and mobile applications. Their scale and control over data flows have created new forms of market power that challenge conventional antitrust paradigms. Traditional competition law, developed in the industrial economy, struggles to address the dynamics of multi-sided markets, network effects, and data-driven dominance that characterise the digital era. This research seeks to analyse how the European Union and the United States have responded to these challenges and to draw insights for Arab jurisdictions seeking to craft context-sensitive regulatory models. Method: The study employs a doctrinal and comparative legal analysis, supplemented by policy evaluation. It examines legislative frameworks such as the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), as well as US antitrust laws, the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and FTC Act. Landmark enforcement cases, including Google Shopping, United States v. Google LLC, FTC v. Meta Platforms, and FTC v. Amazon, are analysed to illustrate practical applications of these frameworks. Comparative analysis is used to assess how ex-ante and ex-post regulatory philosophies shape enforcement outcomes. For Arab jurisdictions (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE), the study incorporates institutional and policy analysis to evaluate capacity constraints and regional coordination mechanisms. Results and Conclusions: Findings reveal fundamental contrasts between the EU and US approaches. The EU’s ex-ante regime ensures speed, predictability, and structural intervention but may risk overreach and incentivise innovation. The US ex-post approach provides analytical rigour and judicial safeguards but often lags the pace of digital market evolution. For Arab jurisdictions, key challenges include limited enforcement capacity, dependence on foreign platforms, and fragmented regional governance. The study proposes a hybrid regulatory framework that integrates proactive ex-ante rules, inspired by the DMA, with flexible ex-post enforcement tailored to local conditions. Regional harmonisation through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Arab League is emphasised as essential for cross-border effectiveness. The research concludes that balancing market contestability, innovation, and regional integration requires capacity-sensitive regulation that merges proactive oversight with evidence-based enforcement.