Overview   Digital Markets Act

Today, the European Commission has started two specification proceedings to assist Apple in complying with its interoperability obligations under the Digital Markets Act (‘DMA'). Under the DMA, Apple must provide free and effective interoperability to third party developers and businesses with hardware and software features controlled by Apple's operating systems iOS and iPadOS, designated under the DMA.

The Commission services in charge of the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) have agreed to work together to clarify and give guidance on the interplay between DMA and GDPR.
This enhanced dialogue between Commission’s services and the EDPB will focus on the applicable obligations to digital gatekeepers under the DMA which present a strong interplay with the GDPR to ensure the coherent application to digital gatekeepers of the applicable regulatory frameworks.

The Commission takes note of today’s judgement of the General Court. With this ruling, the Court confirmed the Commission's decision to designate ByteDance as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act with respect to its TikTok online social networking service.
The Commission will now carefully study the judgement.
We will continue working with ByteDance, like all other gatekeepers, to ensure full compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
See also Curia's press release (in PDF format).

The Commission has informed Meta of its preliminary findings that its “pay or consent” advertising model fails to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In the Commission's preliminary view, this binary choice forces users to consent to the combination of their personal data and fails to provide them a less personalised but equivalent version of Meta's social networks.

The European Commission is launching a call for tenders for a study into interoperability tools in the digital single market in the context of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
With this study the contractor will map out the technical challenges and solutions for ensuring horizontal interoperability between number-independent interpersonal communication services with a particular focus on evaluating the merits of a potential extension of this obligation to online social networking services. The study should therefore offer practical recommendations based on the latest developments in horizontal interoperability within the context of the implementation of the DMA.

The European Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that its App Store rules are in breach of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as they prevent app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content.

On 22 May 2024, the High-Level Group for the Digital Markets Act convened for the third time in Brussels. During this meeting, the High-Level Group agreed on the need to coordinate enforcement and adopted a public statement on Artificial Intelligence.
See also High-Level Group for the Digital Markets Act Public Statement on Artificial Intelligence.

The European Commission has today designated under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Booking as a gatekeeper for its online intermediation service Booking.com and decided not to designate X Ads and TikTok Ads. In parallel, the Commission has opened a market investigation to further assess the rebuttal submitted in relation to the online social networking service X.

The European Commission has today designated Apple with respect to iPadOS, its operating system for tablets, as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance of iPadOS with the DMA obligations.

On 7th March all designated Gatekeepers will have to comply with the DMA rules. The European Commission is organising this series of workshops to allow interested parties to ask for clarifications and give feedback on the proposed compliance solutions. The view of third parties is crucial to assess that gatekeepers’ compliance with the DMA is effective and that they deliver benefits, choices, and opportunities to everyone. So please join us to discuss their compliance solutions and ask your questions!
Next workshop: Microsoft, on March 26th.

The Commission has opened non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into Alphabet's rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple's rules on steering in the App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta's “pay or consent model”.
See also Remarks by Executive-Vice President Vestager and Commissioner Breton on the opening of non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act.

The DMA opens the gates for you and your business!
Digital markets in the EU will be shaped by the rules of the Digital Markets Act, ensuring more opportunities, openness and fairness. As a business operating in the EU digital landscape, you can now benefit from this groundbreaking legislation.

As of March 7th, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance, the six gatekeepers designated by the Commission in September 2023, have to fully comply with all obligations in the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The European Commission has received notifications from Booking, ByteDance and X, about their services potentially meeting the Digital Markets Act (DMA) thresholds, which could make them subject to the new EU rules on gatekeeper platforms.

The Commission has adopted decisions closing four market investigations that were launched on 5 September 2023 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), finding that Apple and Microsoft should not be designated as gatekeepers for the following core platform services: Apple’s messaging service iMessage, Microsoft’s online search engine Bing, web browser Edge and online advertising service Microsoft Advertising.

The European Commission published the template for reporting on consumer profiling techniques and the independent audit of such reports. Gatekeepers are obliged to submit the reports to the Commission as part of their obligations under Article 15 of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). 

This week took place the second meeting of the High-Level Group (HLG) on the Digital Markets Act.
The HLG was established in March 2023 and has the objective of providing the EU Commission with advice and expertise within the competencies of its members, to foster a uniform regulatory approach and to ensure that the DMA rules are duly implemented.
In this meeting, the HLG focused on: (i) enhancing its governance; (ii) identifying areas for further cooperation; and (iii) Artificial Intelligence, the impact on the regulatory landscape, and the presence of such technologies across various fields.

The Commission published the template for the compliance report that designated gatekeepers will need to submit under the Digital Markets Act (‘DMA').
Designated gatekeepers will need to submit compliance reports within six months from designation and update them at least once per year. The gatekeepers designated on 6 September 2023 will need to submit the first reports by 7 March 2024. The Commission will then publish a non-confidential summary of each compliance report.

The third Let’s Talk Competition conversation will focus on the impact of the Digital Markets Act for gatekeepers.
Three experts will share their perspectives on this important policy development: Mr. Alberto Bacchiega, Director for Digital Platforms at DG COMP; Ms.Vanessa Turner, Senior Advisor for Competition at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC); Ms. Inge Graef, Professor of Competition Law at Tilburg University. Ms. Aoife White, Editor at Politico will moderate the debate.
The event will take place on 28 September 2023 at 13:00 and it will be webcasted on DG COMP's website as well as in DG Competition YouTube channel.

Did you miss the third episode of Let’s Talk Competition on DMA? No problem, you can watch it anytime on DG COMP Youtube channel. A great panel composed by Alberto Bacchiega, Director for Digital Platforms at the DG COMP, Vanessa Turner, Senior Advisor for Competition at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), and Inge Graef, Associate Professor of Competition Law at Tilburg University, discussed about the impact of this groundbreaking new EU law for gatekeepers and the way to go until compliance for companies in March 2024.