- Fair Trade Commission Chairman conducts 'customized policy communication' that directly explains the latest EU regulations, etc. -
- Listening to on-site challenges and recommendations from major companies entering the European market -
Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Han Ki-jung held an on-site meeting in Paris, France, on Dec. 4 with major Korean companies entering the European market.
Key figures from six Korean companies operating in the European market, including Samsung Electronics and Hanwha Solutions, participated in this overseas meeting, which will be held for the first time since the inauguration of Chairman Han Ki-jung. Chairman Han Ki-jung explained the main contents that could affect our companies in relation to the newly enacted Digital Market Act and the supply chain due diligence guidelines that are currently being enacted, and listened to the difficulties and recommendations that our companies face in the European market.
The Digital Market Act discussed on this day is the EU's law targeting digital platform companies, which predesignates giant platform operators, so-called Big Tech, as "gatekeepers," and imposes special regulations on them. Platform operators designated as gatekeepers are obligated to prohibit unauthorized collection of third-party service user information and ban preferential treatment of their own services, apart from the rules under the existing competition law.
The Digital Market Act came into effect in May this year, and international platform operators such as Google and Apple reported to the EU that they met the designation requirements, and the EU Commission designated six companies, including Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and ByteDance (China, TikTok), as gatekeepers on September 6. Among Korean companies, Samsung Electronics reported in advance that it met the requirements for the designation of gatekeepers, but it was excluded from the final designation as a result of the EU Commission's review. Recognizing that there is room for continuous problem with whether to designate gatekeepers for domestic platform operators, the FTC said it will continue to monitor related trends while enhancing corporate understanding of specific standards of DMA.
The "Business Sustainability Due diligence Guidelines" discussed together is a system that the EU promotes for the purpose of establishing integrated EU standards for individual regulations related to supply chain due diligence, which were implemented mainly by existing EU member states, to strengthen human rights and environmental protection within the international supply chain. The guidelines have passed the EU Parliament in June with the main content of the original company's due diligence on human rights and environmental issues in the supply chain, and the final draft is expected to be made at the end of this year after three way consultations between the EU Parliament, the EU Commission and the EU Council.
If the guidelines go into effect, the original companies entering the EU will be obliged to evaluate and manage the negative impact of business activities on human rights and the environment for the entire supply chain, including suppliers, and if damage occurs due to failure to comply with them, they will be liable for civil liability and may be fined. Korean companies are concerned about violations of fair trade laws, such as "undue management interference," in the process of implementing such due diligence, and the FTC said it will make efforts to ease corporate uncertainty through public relations and various education to ease corporate uncertainties.
The business figures who attended on this day requested that the public and private sectors respond together to solve common difficulties as there is a limit to corporate responses. In particular, he stressed that he hopes such cooperation and joint response will continue in the future, saying that information on overseas competition policy trends provided through the Fair Trade Commission or receiving information sharing through the competition hall of the main EU representative was helpful.
Chairman Han promised to make efforts to return to Korea and actively reflect the voices of the field presented at the meeting when preparing policies, emphasizing, "In order to ensure that our companies can achieve legitimate results from legitimate business activities, we must closely examine the factors of economic instability or the protection system of other countries, and respond quickly if there is a problem."