Parity Clauses and the European Competition Law in Tourism: The “Most-Favoured-Nation Clauses” (MFNs) and the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) Ana Branca Soeiro de Carvalho1 1. Competition Law and Online Services; 2. Parity Clauses and Competition; 3. The Most-Favoured-Nation Clauses (MFNs); 4. OTAs and Parity Clauses Online; 5. Price ComparisonWebsites (PCWs); 6. Competition Law by National Competition Authorities; References. 1. COMPETION LAW AND ONLINE SERVICES Technological developments have brought changes to the way services are provided and purchased. The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to bring significant updates to the tourism industry2. Travelling with a smartphone and mobile data (thanks to the end of roaming in Europe) has been a revelation, given the inclusion of integrating sensors connected to the Internet inside items like cars, suitcases, buildings and more. Another phenomenon that has been facilitated by the digital revolution is the emergence of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). The EU could assist in allowing cities to network, having them comparing and evaluating different regulatory models, a process from which better practices may emerge3. In the last years, there has been a growing number of papers analysing the economic effect of price parity clauses and their removal in the context of online 1 Ana Branca Soeiro de Carvalho, PhD, IPV/ESTGL. 2 Source: https://www.wearemarketing.com/blog/tourism-and-technology-how-tech-is-revolutionizing-travel. html. 3 For a critical assessment, see Monti “The Proposed Directive to Empower National Competition Authorities: Too much, too little or just right?” (2017) 3(3) Competition Law and Policy Debate 40.
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