Call for Papers for upcoming 2027 conference ‘Enforcing the Rules of the Game: Competition, Regulation, and the Evolving Architecture of EU Law Enforcement’ (submissions by 15.10.2026)

On 10–11 May 2027, the University of Warsaw and the Polish Academy of Sciences, will host the conference ‘Enforcing the Rules of the Game: Competition, Regulation, and the Evolving Architecture of EU Law Enforcement’.

The Call_for_Papers invites scholars across all career levels to contribute their abstracts by 15 October 2026.

The conference organizers welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

I. Competition Law and Regulation: Coherence, Convergence, Complementarity, and Conflict

• The interplay between the DMA and EU competition law (Articles 101, 102 TFEU, and merger control): complementary tools or regulatory redundancy?
• Lessons from early DMA enforcement for the design of future regulatory instruments
• The evolving doctrine of abuse of dominance in light of sector-specific regulation (e.g., Android Auto, Lukoil Bulgaria, the draft Article 102 Guidelines)
• Competition law as a ‘gap-filler’ for regulatory lacunae, and its limits
• The evolving landscape of EU merger control: new theories of harm, below-threshold transactions, and the boundaries of competition enforcement

II. Institutional Design, Authorities’ Cooperation, Judicial Review and Multi-Level Enforcement

• Institutional coordination between the European Commission, national competition authorities (NCAs), national regulatory authorities (NRAs), and EU agencies
• The European Competition Network (ECN) after the ECN+ Directive: achievements and remaining gaps
• Enforcement competence allocation in multi-authority settings (competition, electronic communication, data protection, media regulation)
• The ‘Enforcement Competence Test’: how to design and allocate enforcement powers in the EU’s shared legal order, and how to balance the need for compliance guidance with the principles of separation of powers (trias politica)
• National ‘call-in’ powers for below-threshold mergers and their implications for EU-level enforcement coherence
• Access of third parties to the proceedings, public input to the proceedings and transparency rules
• Judicial review of authorities decisions and role for constitutional review

III. Enforcement in the Digital and AI Era: Sovereignty, Dependency, Hyperscalers, AI Governance, Non-Economic Interests and Regulatory Experimentation

• Digital sovereignty and the EU’s strategic autonomy in platform governance: rhetoric vs. enforcement reality
• Dependency on hyperscalers and digital infrastructure: competition concerns, systemic risks, and regulatory responses
• Theories of harm in digital markets: evolving approaches to platform power, self-preferencing, and ecosystem lock-in
• The Digital Omnibus package and the review of the EU’s regulatory framework for digital markets: simplification, coherence, or deregulation?
• Enforcing the EU’s digital rulebook — DMA, DSA, EMFA, AI Act, Data Act, and the future Digital Fairness Act: institutional design, AI Act enforcement architecture, coordination challenges, and accountability
• Regulatory sandboxes and regulatory experimentation under the AI Act: governance design, supervision models, competition law constraints, and implications for enforcement coherence
• A place of non-economic interests in the enforcement of competition law and digital regulations
• Transatlantic tensions over EU digital regulation: trade policy, diplomatic friction, and the future of enforcement cooperation
• Private enforcement of digital regulation: emerging trends at the national level

IV. Private enforcement of digital regulation: emerging trends at the national level
Enforcement Theory, Methodology, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

• Towards an EU enforcement theory: common principles across policy domains
• Empirical and data-driven approaches to studying enforcement effectiveness
• Behavioural insights and compliance: what drives adherence to EU law?
• Law & economics perspectives on optimal enforcement design
• Comparative enforcement: lessons from non-EU jurisdictions (US, UK, Asia-Pacific)
• The interaction between sectoral regulatory regimes and EU competition law
• The role of private actors, civil society, and whistleblowers in enforcement ecosystems

For more information, see the Call for Papers here: EULEN_2027_Call_for_Papers