They discuss why the DMA’s fixed “core platform service” categories may struggle to capture foundation models that evolve across multiple uses and markets. The conversation explores key tensions around data access, interoperability and self-preferencing, as well as recent developments involving Apple’s Siri AI, Google’s AI Overviews and Meta/WhatsApp. The discussion asks whether AI competition policy should rely less on rigid ex ante rules and more on flexible, conduct-based enforcement that can respond to harms as they emerge.

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Drawing on his background as a competition lawyer and recent market research, Jebelli argues that while European policymakers view the regulatory instrument as future-proof, its rigid enforcement is creating unintended friction for everyday consumers and delaying the rollout of advanced AI technologies. Focusing on cloud platforms, he explains how the European Commission is shifting away from traditional competition law and consumer welfare principles toward an agenda aimed at tech sovereignty and industrial policy.

The conversation explores the unintended consequences of platform regulation, how the UK's flexible and participatory approach to cloud markets sharply diverged from the EU's gatekeeper model, the role of institutional independence within DG Competition, and the potential for transatlantic economic fallout.

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Drawing on his recent paper, Employment Protection, Adjustment Costs, and Technology Adoption, Canton argues that the key policy challenge is not how innovation is created, but how effectively firms adopt and integrate new technologies. Focusing on AI, he explains how stringent employment protection legislation (EPL) can impose significant legacy and restructuring costs on large, productive incumbent firms, creating a structural barrier to technology adoption and productivity growth.

The conversation explores Europe's productivity paradox, why startups are often better positioned to embrace technological change, the strengths of Nordic flexicurity models, and how AI is reshaping labour market dynamics by shifting attention from workers' skill levels to the specific tasks they perform.

You can watch a video recording of this conversation here.

You can read a transcript of the chat here.

You can watch a video recording of this conversation here.

You can read a transcript here.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are personal and should not be attributed to the European Commission.

You can watch a video recording of this conversation here.

You can read a transcript here.

The conversation also tackles the “integration fatigue” stalling EU enlargement. While Montenegro and Albania are making progress, others remain trapped by bilateral identity disputes, most notably North Macedonia, where trust has eroded following sacrifices made for the Prespa Agreement. As the EU’s decision-making remains slow, the experts warn that Russia and China are actively filling the gap through narrative warfare and strategic infrastructure loans. Ultimately, they conclude that the EU must adopt a more urgent and strategic approach to securing its immediate neighbourhood before its influence is permanently diminished.

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Pkhaladze, author of the recent paper Europe's Frontier Countries: The EU's Geopolitical Test, highlights three structural weaknesses: fragmented policy tools, slow decision making, and unresolved conflict dynamics. While the EU has made progress through sharper strategic thinking, renewed enlargement momentum, and stronger defence initiatives, ambition still exceeds delivery. Until that gap is closed, others will continue to take advantage of it.

You can watch a video recording of this conversation here.

You can read a transcript here.