FGV contributes to Finance Ministry report on changes to competition law

The Center for Technology and Society (CTS) at Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Rio de Janeiro Law School played a central role in producing recommendations on modernizing Brazilian competition law to meet the challenges posed by digital platforms. On October 10, in Brasilia, the Finance Ministry’s Economic Reform Secretariat presented a report titled “Digital Platforms: Economic and Competition Aspects and Recommendations for Regulatory Improvements in Brazil,” which incorporates many of the contributions made by CTS.

The report, prepared with the aim of improving the Brazilian antitrust system, brings together analyses and recommendations for a more robust and up-to-date approach to the growth and influence of digital platforms in Brazil. The proposals include legislative reforms and sub-legislative measures, based on international benchmarking and the systematization of contributions collected during a consultation carried out by the Economic Reform Secretariat between January and May 2024.

CTS played a prominent role throughout this process and its analyses are mentioned 43 times in the preliminary report and eight times in the final report, which sets out a series of reform proposals. According to Professor Nicolo Zingales, the coordinator of CTS’ research group on digital platforms and ecosystems, this recognition is a source of pride and reinforces the positive impact of CTS’ research on public policy making. “It’s a pleasure to know that our research has contributed in some way to public policy making, especially in such important and careful work as that carried out by the Economic Reform Secretariat. The Finance Ministry was successful, both in gathering evidence and in choosing the guiding principles for modernizing Brazil’s antitrust law. Our group is already working to suggest a path to be followed in implementing these principles,” he says.

The importance of digital platforms and the complexity of their regulation will also be discussed next month during the Third BRICS+ Digital Competition Forum, which will take place in the FGV Rio de Janeiro Law School’s main building on November 22. The event will feature authorities from more than eight countries and will provide a new opportunity to debate solutions for an inclusive and competitive digital economy.

For more details about the proposals, click here.