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The European Commission's first review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) found that in the first two years of its application, the DMA remains fit for purpose and has opened up new opportunities for businesses and developers, while giving users more control over their experiences and devices, as well as access to more diverse and innovative digital products and services.

The Commission services and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) have agreed to work together to clarify and give guidance on the interplay between EU competition law and data protection law.
This joint work between Commission’ services and the EDPB will focus on selected situations where data protection law is relevant for competition law assessment and conversely to ensure a coherent approach between the two areas of law.

DG Competition will hold on a “Reality Check” to identify good practices on the activities of National Promotional Banks and potential bottlenecks caused by State aid rules.
The Reality Check meeting will take place on Tuesday, 28 April 2026. The representatives from Member States’ national promotional banks, international financial institutions implementing InvestEU and relevant EU associations are invited.

We welcome Anthony Whelan as Director-General of DG Competition. Anthony brings extensive experience across the European Commission, having held several senior roles, including most recently as Deputy Director-General for State Aid and President Von der Leyen’s adviser for competition, digital policy and economic affairs. We congratulate him on his appointment and look forward to working with him in his new capacity.

The European Commission is gathering the views of Member States on a draft proposal for a State aid Temporary Crisis Framework to support the EU economy in the context of the Middle East crisis, as announced on 13 April 2026 by President Ursula von der Leyen. The draft proposal is based on Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which allows aid to develop specific economic sectors also in view of specific unexpected economic risks.

The High-Level Group on the Digital Markets Act (High-Level Group) successfully concluded its sixth Plenary meeting in Brussels, with a focus on advancing cooperation in EU digital regulations. The High-Level Group invited Professors Vicky Robertson, Orla Lynskey, and Belle Beems, who shared their expertise and insights on the future of digital regulation and the coordination between regulatory authorities. 

Today, the Commission and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published the individual contributions received in response to the public consultation on the draft joint guidelines on the interplay between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched by the Commission and the EDPB.  The Commission and the EDPB welcome the high level of participation, with over 100 contributions submitted by a broad range of parties, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), trade and business associations, gatekeepers, civil society and consumer organisations, academics, think tanks, law firms, and individual citizens. The contributions show the respondents’ broad support for the initiative and the cross-regulatory dialogue, which is widely seen as necessary to ensure coherence between the enforcement of the DMA and the protection of fundamental rights under the GDPR. 

The gatekeepers designated on 6 September 2023, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft, have submitted reports on their updated compliance measures under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), outlining the changes they have implemented and measures they have taken during the past year. The gatekeepers also submitted to the Commission updated independently audited reports on consumer profiling techniques.

Today, the European Commission and the United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement. The agreement sets a new and clear framework for cooperation on competition matters between, on the one side, the Commission and EU Member State competition authorities, and, on the other side, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. It is the first dedicated EU-UK agreement fully focused on competition cooperation following the withdrawal of the UK from the Union.
See also Opening remarks by Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera at the signing ceremony of the EU – UK Competition Cooperation Agreement.

EU Member States spent 90% of their State aid in 2024 to support EU priorities, according to the European Commission's 2025 State aid Scoreboard, published today. While overall spending dropped to €168.23 billion in 2024 from €203.35 billion in 2023, Member States channeled more funds towards supporting key EU prorities, such as environmental protection, energy, research, development and innovation and regional development. At the same time, crisis aid measures related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to the COVID-19 pandemic continued to phase out.

The European Commission published a summary and the individual contributions received in response to the consultation on the ongoing review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). 
The assessment of these contributions will feed into the Commission's review report to be presented by 3 May 2026 to the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Economic and Social Committee. The regular review of the DMA every three years is a legal requirement, mandated by the regulation itself, to ensure that the DMA meets its objectives and maintains its effectiveness in the evolving landscape of digital markets.

The European Commission acknowledges Meta's undertaking to offer users in the EU an alternative choice of Facebook and Instagram services that would show them less personalised ads, to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is the first time that such a choice is offered on Meta's social networks. Meta will give users the effective choice between: consenting to share all their data and seeing fully personalised advertising, and opting to share less personal data for an experience with more limited personalised advertising. Meta will present these new options to users in the EU in January 2026.

The European Commission published the contributions received in response to the public consultation on the review of the EU Merger Guidelines. The package includes a Summary of the feedback, along with an Overview of the main trends identified in the replies to the General and In-depth Consultations.
The key opinion trends will be debated during the interactive technical stakeholder workshops. Furthermore, a dedicated conference “Shaping the Future of EU Merger Control” will take place early next year.

The European Commission appointed Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in DG COMP.
Professor de Montjoye, a Belgian national, currently serves as Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science at Imperial College London where he heads the Computational Privacy Group. He brings outstanding academic and practical expertise in AI and other advanced technologies, along with extensive experience in assessing their policy and regulatory impact.
A very warm welcome to him!

The European Commission has launched a call for evidence and a public consultation to seek input on the evaluation of the 2009 Broadcasting Communication. This Communication sets out State aid rules for public service broadcasting. The goal of the initiative is to collect views and experiences from stakeholders on how the Broadcasting Communication has worked since its last revision in 2009 and whether it continues to meet its objectives. The Commission is also seeking to identify any challenges stakeholders may have encountered in the application or interpretation of the rules.

The European Commission has found that the State aid rules on guarantees are still relevant as they increase predictability and legal certainty, but that some improvements and simplification are necessary. In a Staff Working Document (‘SWD') published today, the Commission finds that there can be improvements regarding estimating aid amounts, complexity for SMEs, and passing-on of risk benefits.

The European Commission and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) have launched a public consultation to gather feedback on draft guidelines on the interplay between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

DG Competition has once again received a FIVE-star rating in the 25th edition of Global Competition Review (GCR)’s annual Rating Enforcement Survey, one of only two enforcement bodies worldwide to be awarded the top five-star rating — alongside Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.
The GCR report underlines: “The European Commission remains the most influential antitrust authority in the world, setting global benchmarks through both its enforcement record and the breadth of its policy initiatives.”

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation on the revision of the State aid rules to help Member States with affordable housing. This revision of the services of general economic interest (‘SGEI') rules will address challenges related to housing affordability that go beyond social housing. The goal is to allow EU countries to support affordable housing in a faster and simpler way, by revising SGEI Decision 2012/21/EU. This will contribute to the Commission's efforts to address European citizens' housing needs, which will also include a proposal for a European affordable housing plan.

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation, inviting all interested parties to comment on drafts of a revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (‘TTBER') and revised Guidelines on the application of Article 101 of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements.