TOURIST RENTALS MEDIATED BY PLATFORMS AND COMPETITION LAW 647 for values higher than their turnover. In these cases, the control of the information and innovative tools of these companies is sought. In this way, control is achieved not only over innovative products, but also over the number of users (Cfr. Herrero, 2018). The critical element of these operations lies in the fact that they do not usually activate merger control procedures due to the fact that the turnover of the companies involved does not reach the required thresholds. For this reason, some of these operations would remain outside the scope of an analysis of their impact on the proper functioning of the market. In order to overcome these limitations, countries such as Germany have included the value of the transaction as a complementary threshold for the analysis of mergers (Cfr. Herrero, 2018). Directly linked to the above issue is the difficulty of categorising the relevant market and applying the relevant valuation criteria, especially when the data constitute a strategic asset. In such cases, the acquisition of a new company may not necessarily involve a risk to the structure of the market because its market share is not relevant. In parallel to the above, there could be a situation in which control over a group of relevant data may alter the functioning of the market (Cfr. Herrero, 2018). Finally, it should be noted that although the competition authorities have been in favour of promoting the sharing economy, there are certain cases where the digital market in which they operate favours conduct contrary to the rules of competition law. This is why the legal approach adopted in this area will have a direct impact on the development of the business models of platforms such as Airbnb. In this sense, one of the main challenges to face is given by the potential conflicts of competition between national governments andEuropean authorities, given the diversity of areas covered by the sharing economy and, especially, by its impact on the tourism sector.
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