The European Union has unveiled its full Digital Markets Act, which requires companies such as Apple to allow third parties to offer alternatives to its app store and payment system. The European Union has now released the full details of its Digital Markets Act (DMA), following plans to require Apple Information and other companies to work with smaller rivals. The DMA was reached during nearly eight hours of talks between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on March 24, 2022.
According to EU antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager, the process from this agreement to the enactment of the proposal into law will be very, very fast. She expects the legislation to be enacted and go into effect sometime in October.
A fair market is part of every democracy, Vestager continued in a speech, “and the steps we took last night to ensure that every business and [ensuring] fairness in digital markets for the benefit of It’s a huge step forward for every consumer. For example, the addition of a new interoperability obligation between information services and the prohibition of data collection for targeted advertising purposes unless there is valid consent.
Certain obligations have not been fully identified, such as interoperability requirements for messaging. The EU statement said it agreed to these “will be assessed in the future”. On top of that for companies like Apple and Google, Section 6.1(c) of the DMA would require the iPhone to open up sideloading of apps — including third-party app stores — and that all providers support alternative payment systems. Customers will also have the right to uninstall any pre-installed applications.
In addition, companies defined as “gatekeepers” of walled gardens will have to stop leaning on policies to offer their own services on platforms they control. Vestager cited the many antitrust cases the EU has concluded with or is currently participating in, the likes of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.
“The thing is, what we’ve learned over the years is that we can correct in specific cases and can punish illegal behavior,” she said. “But when things become systemic, then we also need to regulate in a timely manner. Because if there is systemic risk behavior, if there is an ingrained position, then we need regulation to step in.”
Vestager also said the DMA will bring tech companies in line with other industries that have similar oversight and regulatory requirements.
“Actually, it’s very similar to what was done a long time ago,” she said. “In banking, in telecommunications, in energy, in transport, regulation and competition go hand in hand. Finally, we have established the same reality here.”
Only those large companies that the DMA describes as providing “core platform services” will be designated as “gatekeepers” and will be subject to the bill when it is passed into law.
According to the European Parliament, gatekeepers must provide browsers, information services or social media and have at least 45 million monthly end-users in the EU. They must also have 10,000 annual business users and a market capitalization of at least 75 billion euros ($82 billion), or an annual turnover of 7.5 billion euros ($8.2 billion).
The full legal text of the DMA must be finalized before approval. While Vestager said she hopes to complete it in October 2023 is more likely given the typical timeline. Both the EU Parliament and the Council will have a final vote and final approval.