Konstantina Bania
Dr. Konstantina Bania is a partner at Geradin Partners and a leading expert in digital regulation. She specialises in competition law, platform regulation, and the governance of AI‑driven markets, drawing on over 20 years of experience across private practice, regulators, international organisations and academia.
Konstantina advises clients across the media, technology, automotive, telecoms and sports sectors on high‑stakes antitrust investigations, complex regulatory questions, and the design of global compliance strategies. Her practice spans abuse of dominance and restrictive‑practice cases, State aid, and the fast‑evolving “digital rulebook”, including the DMA, DSA, P2B Regulation and emerging AI frameworks. She regularly represents individual companies and trade associations before the European Commission, national competition authorities and digital services regulators. She has a strong track record of successfully supporting media organisations, app developers, website owners, and other business users in challenging unfair terms and platform practices in digital markets.
Before joining Geradin Partners, Konstantina led the competition and platform‑regulation work of a major European media organisation, where she developed and implemented competition‑compliance programmes, coordinated State aid and funding cases, and positioned the organisation as a key stakeholder in EU digital‑policy debates. Earlier, she worked on State aid in media and telecoms at the European Commission and as a legal researcher on EU‑funded projects concerning competition enforcement and media regulation.
Konstantina is frequently invited to support public authorities on cutting-edge digital and competition matters. Notably, she was recently appointed as an expert to a Council of Europe committee working on regulation in the digital era, and served as an external advisor to the Hellenic Competition Commission in its e‑commerce sector inquiry.
Konstantina is also a senior lecturer at Brunel University where she teaches competition law and platform regulation. She holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute, and her thesis received the 2016 Concurrences PhD Thesis Award. She is the author of two books, namely The Digital Markets Act: How the EU Regulates Big Tech (Hart, 2024) and The Role of Media Pluralism in the Enforcement of EU Competition Law (Concurrences, 2019), and has published widely on digital markets, data‑driven advertising, cloud regulation and the interplay between competition law and digital regulation. She is a member of the Athens Bar.
- Competition investigations in digital and media markets
Advises complainants and third parties in behavioural cases before the European Commission and national competition authorities, including investigations into self‑preferencing, anti‑steering restrictions, access and interoperability limitations and other exclusionary practices in online advertising, app distribution, video‑on‑demand and e‑commerce. Recent mandates include representing business users and trade associations in complaints about app‑store rules (such as anti‑steering and account suspensions), search and ranking practices affecting news and media services, and access conditions for connected‑TV and smart‑device ecosystems.
- Digital‑regulation and platform‑governance mandates
Designs global compliance and offensive‑strategy playbooks under the DMA, DSA, P2B Regulation, and national media‑ and consumer‑protection regimes. This includes assisting business users in challenging unfair ranking, access and suspension decisions before digital services regulators and coordinating multi‑jurisdictional complaints concerning violations of digital regulations. Has advised video‑on‑demand services, app developers, broadcasters and news publishers on how to leverage the DMA and national platform‑regulation regimes in their dealings with large gateways and to secure improved contractual and technical terms.
- AI, data and content‑protection work for media organisations
Advises several news and media organisations on protecting their content, data and brands against unauthorised use by AI companies. Work includes strategies for rights reservation and licensing, revision of Terms of Service and machine‑readable notices, advice on the deployment of technical measures to manage automated access, and integrating AI‑governance and transparency requirements into content‑ and data‑licensing practices. Recent projects have involved developing multi‑jurisdictional approaches to generative‑AI training and output use across key EU and non‑EU markets.
- State aid and public funding advice in media, telecoms and space
Provides State aid advice across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on broadcasting, online media, telecoms and space/satellite markets. Experience covers the design and assessment of support schemes, aid‑compliance of funding and management agreements, and investigations into the financing of digital infrastructure and sports‑rights acquisitions. Previously led projects for a pan‑European media organisation and now advises clients on the compatibility of subsidies, public‑service compensations and infrastructure projects with EU State‑aid rules. Previously advised an international organisation active in telecoms, space and satellite markets on public procurement, State subsidies and competition law, including the structuring of competitive tenders, assessment of funding arrangements and compliance with EU competition and procurement rules. Also counsels clients on how evolving EU cloud and connectivity regulation affects their infrastructure and service models.
- Sports media rights and competition law
Advises sports federations and broadcasters on the sale and acquisition of media rights to major sports competitions. Experience includes reviewing and drafting tender documents, structuring joint‑selling and collective‑bargaining arrangements, negotiating distribution agreements, and managing antitrust risk and investigations linked to rights allocation and exploitation. Also contributes to executive education and conferences on sports and competition law.
- Automotive, connected‑device and IoT regulation
Advises on competition and regulatory issues linked to virtual assistants, in‑car infotainment systems, phone‑projection tools, digital keys, and the reception and aggregation of audio/radio services in the automotive environment. Advises on the interaction between sector‑specific rules, platform regulation and competition law, including access to in‑car interfaces, data‑sharing obligations, and relationships with app and content providers.
- App‑store, marketplace and platform‑work mandates
Acts for app developers in disputes and regulatory proceedings concerning app‑store conduct, including anti‑steering rules, in‑app payment obligations, account termination and suspension, and ranking practices. She also advises online gaming and interactive entertainment service providers on the application of the DSA, consumer‑protection rules, cybersecurity and online‑safety frameworks, and the emerging Digital Fairness Act, helping them align product design, content moderation and commercial practices with evolving EU and national requirements.
- Strategic advisory on digital‑regulatory trends and cooperation
Provides horizon‑scanning and strategic advice on global digital‑regulatory trends, including AI‑governance frameworks, and digital‑regulator cooperation forums.
Books:
The Digital Markets Act: How the EU regulates big tech (2024). Hart Publishing: Oxford.
The Role of Media Pluralism in the Enforcement of EU Competition Law (2019). Concurrences: Paris, New York.
Articles & contributions to edited collections
Regulating data processing for digital advertising (2025). In Ioannidou, M. and Deni Mantzari (Eds.) Research Handbook on Competition Law and Data Privacy. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, pp. 58-89.
The regulation of cloud computing: why the European Union failed to get it right (2023) (with Damien Geradin). Journal of Information and Communications Technology Law 33(1), pp. 99-113.
Fitting the Digital Markets Act in the existing legal framework: The myth of the “without prejudice” clause (2022). European Competition Journal, 14(1), pp. 38-80.
The impact of the Digital Markets Act on the General Data Protection Regulation (co-authored with Damien Geradin and Theano Karanikioti) (2022). Concurrences Competition Law Review (3), pp. 31-37.
Platform Regulation: Taking Stock of Lessons from the Media Sector (2022). Competition Policy International, TechReg Chronicle, January.
Hellenic Competition Commission (2021). Interim Report on the E-Commerce Sector Inquiry, Contributor to Chapter 4 of the Report on “The Legal Framework Governing E-Commerce”, pp. 72-112.
The Platform-to-Business Regulation: Taming the ‘Big Tech’ beast? (2020). Concurrences (Competition Law Review), 2, 52-64.
Dr. Konstantina Bania is a partner at Geradin Partners and a leading expert in digital regulation. She specialises in competition law, platform regulation, and the governance of AI‑driven markets, drawing on over 20 years of experience across private practice, regulators, international organisations and academia.
Konstantina advises clients across the media, technology, automotive, telecoms and sports sectors on high‑stakes antitrust investigations, complex regulatory questions, and the design of global compliance strategies. Her practice spans abuse of dominance and restrictive‑practice cases, State aid, and the fast‑evolving “digital rulebook”, including the DMA, DSA, P2B Regulation and emerging AI frameworks. She regularly represents individual companies and trade associations before the European Commission, national competition authorities and digital services regulators. She has a strong track record of successfully supporting media organisations, app developers, website owners, and other business users in challenging unfair terms and platform practices in digital markets.
Before joining Geradin Partners, Konstantina led the competition and platform‑regulation work of a major European media organisation, where she developed and implemented competition‑compliance programmes, coordinated State aid and funding cases, and positioned the organisation as a key stakeholder in EU digital‑policy debates. Earlier, she worked on State aid in media and telecoms at the European Commission and as a legal researcher on EU‑funded projects concerning competition enforcement and media regulation.
Konstantina is frequently invited to support public authorities on cutting-edge digital and competition matters. Notably, she was recently appointed as an expert to a Council of Europe committee working on regulation in the digital era, and served as an external advisor to the Hellenic Competition Commission in its e‑commerce sector inquiry.
Konstantina is also a senior lecturer at Brunel University where she teaches competition law and platform regulation. She holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute, and her thesis received the 2016 Concurrences PhD Thesis Award. She is the author of two books, namely The Digital Markets Act: How the EU Regulates Big Tech (Hart, 2024) and The Role of Media Pluralism in the Enforcement of EU Competition Law (Concurrences, 2019), and has published widely on digital markets, data‑driven advertising, cloud regulation and the interplay between competition law and digital regulation. She is a member of the Athens Bar.
- Competition investigations in digital and media markets
Advises complainants and third parties in behavioural cases before the European Commission and national competition authorities, including investigations into self‑preferencing, anti‑steering restrictions, access and interoperability limitations and other exclusionary practices in online advertising, app distribution, video‑on‑demand and e‑commerce. Recent mandates include representing business users and trade associations in complaints about app‑store rules (such as anti‑steering and account suspensions), search and ranking practices affecting news and media services, and access conditions for connected‑TV and smart‑device ecosystems.
- Digital‑regulation and platform‑governance mandates
Designs global compliance and offensive‑strategy playbooks under the DMA, DSA, P2B Regulation, and national media‑ and consumer‑protection regimes. This includes assisting business users in challenging unfair ranking, access and suspension decisions before digital services regulators and coordinating multi‑jurisdictional complaints concerning violations of digital regulations. Has advised video‑on‑demand services, app developers, broadcasters and news publishers on how to leverage the DMA and national platform‑regulation regimes in their dealings with large gateways and to secure improved contractual and technical terms.
- AI, data and content‑protection work for media organisations
Advises several news and media organisations on protecting their content, data and brands against unauthorised use by AI companies. Work includes strategies for rights reservation and licensing, revision of Terms of Service and machine‑readable notices, advice on the deployment of technical measures to manage automated access, and integrating AI‑governance and transparency requirements into content‑ and data‑licensing practices. Recent projects have involved developing multi‑jurisdictional approaches to generative‑AI training and output use across key EU and non‑EU markets.
- State aid and public funding advice in media, telecoms and space
Provides State aid advice across a range of sectors, with a particular focus on broadcasting, online media, telecoms and space/satellite markets. Experience covers the design and assessment of support schemes, aid‑compliance of funding and management agreements, and investigations into the financing of digital infrastructure and sports‑rights acquisitions. Previously led projects for a pan‑European media organisation and now advises clients on the compatibility of subsidies, public‑service compensations and infrastructure projects with EU State‑aid rules. Previously advised an international organisation active in telecoms, space and satellite markets on public procurement, State subsidies and competition law, including the structuring of competitive tenders, assessment of funding arrangements and compliance with EU competition and procurement rules. Also counsels clients on how evolving EU cloud and connectivity regulation affects their infrastructure and service models.
- Sports media rights and competition law
Advises sports federations and broadcasters on the sale and acquisition of media rights to major sports competitions. Experience includes reviewing and drafting tender documents, structuring joint‑selling and collective‑bargaining arrangements, negotiating distribution agreements, and managing antitrust risk and investigations linked to rights allocation and exploitation. Also contributes to executive education and conferences on sports and competition law.
- Automotive, connected‑device and IoT regulation
Advises on competition and regulatory issues linked to virtual assistants, in‑car infotainment systems, phone‑projection tools, digital keys, and the reception and aggregation of audio/radio services in the automotive environment. Advises on the interaction between sector‑specific rules, platform regulation and competition law, including access to in‑car interfaces, data‑sharing obligations, and relationships with app and content providers.
- App‑store, marketplace and platform‑work mandates
Acts for app developers in disputes and regulatory proceedings concerning app‑store conduct, including anti‑steering rules, in‑app payment obligations, account termination and suspension, and ranking practices. She also advises online gaming and interactive entertainment service providers on the application of the DSA, consumer‑protection rules, cybersecurity and online‑safety frameworks, and the emerging Digital Fairness Act, helping them align product design, content moderation and commercial practices with evolving EU and national requirements.
- Strategic advisory on digital‑regulatory trends and cooperation
Provides horizon‑scanning and strategic advice on global digital‑regulatory trends, including AI‑governance frameworks, and digital‑regulator cooperation forums.
Books:
The Digital Markets Act: How the EU regulates big tech (2024). Hart Publishing: Oxford.
The Role of Media Pluralism in the Enforcement of EU Competition Law (2019). Concurrences: Paris, New York.
Articles & contributions to edited collections
Regulating data processing for digital advertising (2025). In Ioannidou, M. and Deni Mantzari (Eds.) Research Handbook on Competition Law and Data Privacy. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, pp. 58-89.
The regulation of cloud computing: why the European Union failed to get it right (2023) (with Damien Geradin). Journal of Information and Communications Technology Law 33(1), pp. 99-113.
Fitting the Digital Markets Act in the existing legal framework: The myth of the “without prejudice” clause (2022). European Competition Journal, 14(1), pp. 38-80.
The impact of the Digital Markets Act on the General Data Protection Regulation (co-authored with Damien Geradin and Theano Karanikioti) (2022). Concurrences Competition Law Review (3), pp. 31-37.
Platform Regulation: Taking Stock of Lessons from the Media Sector (2022). Competition Policy International, TechReg Chronicle, January.
Hellenic Competition Commission (2021). Interim Report on the E-Commerce Sector Inquiry, Contributor to Chapter 4 of the Report on “The Legal Framework Governing E-Commerce”, pp. 72-112.
The Platform-to-Business Regulation: Taming the ‘Big Tech’ beast? (2020). Concurrences (Competition Law Review), 2, 52-64.