First component for Gaia-X: Bundeskartellamt gives green light for establishing data network for automotive industry (Catena-X)

The Bundeskartellamt has no objections to the planned start of the “Catena-X” cooperation, which aims to create a data network for collaboration in the automotive industry.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Catena-X is a first major component of the GAIA-X initiative to create a competitive data infrastructure in Europe. More than 80 companies mainly active in Germany’s automotive and IT industry wish to collaborate in this project. For the first time, a data network with corresponding applications along the entire automotive value chain is to be created. Competition law does not stand in the way of such projects. However, we ensure that certain competition principles are observed. Our examination focused in particular on the setting of certain standards and the cooperation in research and development, among other things, for which we were able to give the green light. Set up properly, initiatives such as the one at hand are promising since they may help to boost competition in cloud services in the future, a development we would very much like to see.”

On the one hand, Catena-X is intended to promote the development of uniform standards for data transfer. Data that have so far existed separately at companies (stand-alone solutions) are to be linked so that they can be used as effectively as possible in the value chain. On the other hand, the cooperation includes joint research and development activities aimed at using specific applications based on the new data network. These include, for example, projects facilitating the traceability of components or making it possible to determine the carbon footprint of components along the value chain. Other projects deal with the circular economy or improving quality management.

When examining the project, the Bundeskartellamt assessed both the agreement regarding the setting of standards as well as the cooperation for research and development purposes. A research and development cooperation which is not aimed at jointly using the results usually has anti-competitive effects only if competition in innovation is appreciably reduced. However, as things currently stand, there are no indications that this would be the case, especially since the standards that are to be developed are to be interoperable so that companies active in the automotive industry can still use and develop their own cloud and software solutions. In addition, the following principles are particularly important for the competitive assessment of the cooperation:

(1.) The exchange of competitively sensitive information must be limited to what is absolutely necessary for the cooperation.

(2.) The standards must be developed in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner in an open procedure. This means that especially third parties must be allowed to participate in the procedure for setting a standard, compliance with the standard must be voluntary and access to the standard must be provided on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

(3.) The individual development cooperations planned as part of the project must not lead to market foreclosures or other distortions of competition, also with regard to competition in innovation.

Giving the green light for the start of Catena-X does not mean that all projects which are part of the cooperation have been conclusively assessed. These projects first have to be defined in more detail. Against this background, the Bundeskartellamt will keep an eye on the cooperation’s development and especially on the continued work of individual part projects based on the companies’ self-assessment under competition law.

Background: Catena-X as a case of application of Gaia-X

Catena-X is an important milestone in the Gaia-X initiative launched by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (now the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action) in 2019. The aim is to create a European data infrastructure by developing interfaces and standards for connecting different cross-industry cloud services. This is intended to reduce dependence on American and Chinese IT providers.

For several years, various players in the automotive value chain, such as automotive part suppliers and manufacturers, have been working on the digital transformation of their production within the framework of Industry 4.0, including, for example, on a global logistics platform or AI algorithms to optimise production. In this regard, manufacturers rely on established cloud providers (e.g. solutions from Amazon, Google or Microsoft) offering individual digital solutions. This leads to closed data platforms (stand-alone solutions) which result in manufacturers using different interfaces to which the relevant suppliers have to adapt. Catena-X is to ensure, among other things, that these different interfaces are no longer used. Car manufacturers, suppliers, dealer associations and equipment providers as well as providers of applications, platforms and infrastructure are involved in this project.