The Digital Markets Regulation (DMA) must fundamentally change the economic models of these giants, which are accused of squeezing out competition by abusing their dominant market position. This legislation opens a new front between the EU and big tech companies and creates new legal disputes.
The Commission has identified a total of 22 key platforms that fall into these six groups: four social networks (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn), two instant messaging services (WhatsApp and Messenger), three operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows), a search engine (Google), two browsers (Chrome, Safari).
The list also includes six intermediary services (Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, App Store and Meta Marketplace), the video sharing site YouTube and the advertising services of Google, Amazon and Meta.
At the initiative of the text, Commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton hope to encourage the emergence of European start-ups and improve the services offered to consumers.
After years of chasing violations in endless court cases, Brussels now wants to act faster and more forcefully.
The DMA imposes a straitjacket of obligations and prohibitions on the most powerful actors that they must comply with, threatening fines that can reach up to 20% of their global turnover for repeat violations.
“The rules of the game have changed”
“We have already started talking to companies who understand that the rules of the game have changed,” explains Thierry Breton. He reiterates that the European Commission, which will have control and sanctioning powers, “will not hesitate to take strict measures”.
The aim is to intervene before abusive behavior has already destroyed competition and created a quasi-monopoly like Google in search engines.
The legislation “transforms the digital industry in Europe, transforming an unregulated sector into a highly regulated one,” emphasizes Alexandre de Streel, academic director of the Center on Regulation in Europe (CERRE).
One of the new rules is that the EU requires the interoperability of target intelligence services. Therefore, WhatsApp and Messenger, both owned by Meta, must enable their users to communicate with competing products such as Signal.
The regulation will apply from March 6 to these companies, which were described on Wednesday as “gatekeepers” due to their size, which makes them essential to their activities. By then, affected groups must submit a report detailing how they achieved compliance.
Some rules come into effect immediately. This is the case with the new obligation of these platforms to inform the Commission of any takeover operation, regardless of the size of the target company.
In addition, Google will be prohibited from favoring its own services in its search engine results, as is the case, for example, with the online sales site Google Shopping.
The new law will prevent e-commerce giant Amazon from using the data generated on its websites by corporate customers to better compete with them.
The DMA will force Apple to authorize app stores other than the Apple Store for its products, such as its famous iPhone or iPad.
A regularly reviewed list
Given the importance of the interests at stake, legal action is to be expected. The new regulation “is a complex law in a complex environment, it is inevitable to have legal challenges at the beginning,” believes Mr de Streel.
The list of “Access Controllers” is regularly reviewed to take market developments into account.
Three Microsoft services (the Edge browser, the Bing search engine and Microsoft Advertising) are the subject of additional investigations by the Commission with a view to possible further designation, as are the messaging service iMessage and the iPadOS operating system. “Apple.
The Apple brand also said it was “very concerned” about the new rules and believes they pose privacy and data security issues.
Microsoft was pleased that its three services that meet the criteria provided for by the legislation are exempt for now. “We welcome the Commission’s decision to open a market investigation to examine our request for exemption from Bing, Edge and Microsoft Ads – which act as challengers in the market,” a spokesperson said.
“We will continue to work closely with the European Commission to comply with the law,” replied Oliver Bethell, director of legal affairs at Google.