The P2B Regulation

European Union Regulation 2019/1150, or the Platform-to-Business Regulation (also commonly known as the “P2B Regulation”), was the first piece of legislation, not only in Europe, but probably in the world, aimed at regulating the relationship between digital platforms and business users. It may have been the first piece of European legislation to introduce the concept of “digital platforms” into positive law, before the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act - as well as the recent proposal for a directive on work on digital platforms.

The platform economy has led to the emergence of diverse digital service providers in different sectors and markets. Through efficient and intuitive mobile applications, they bring together business users and consumers and facilitate commercial interactions and transactions between them. Digital platforms, especially in the so-called network industries, have brought countless benefits to small and medium-sized businesses, be they small retailers, service providers or traders. These businesses have been able to expand their sales channels, reach new markets and consumers, or even create new economic activities and professions.

However, due to the intermediation and gatekeeper functions of intermediation services, which include e-commerce marketplaces, social networks, mobile apps stores, the various ecosystems of the collaborative economy – and, of course, search services that crawl websites – significant risks of more “problematic” “P2B practices” have been identified that could affect the relationships between platforms and their business users.