The draft European legislation to better regulate the internet and put an end to the abuses of power by the digital giants took an important step in the European Parliament on Tuesday with an agreement reached in a key committee. The draft regulation on digital markets ("
Digital Markets Act
", DMA), unveiled by the European Commission in December 2020, should impose new obligations and prohibitions on Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (the "
Gafam
") , whose omnipotence threatens the free play of competition. MEPs from the Internal Market Committee (Imco) have overwhelmingly approved their version of this legislation, which provides for giving the EU unprecedented powers.
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"
The current competition rules are not sufficient,
" said German MEP Andreas Schwab, who is coordinating the drafting of the text in the European Parliament.
This law will whistle "
the end of the game for unfair practices ... It is the legislator who sets the rules, not private companies,
" he said in a statement.
The text, which incorporates several amendments to the Commission proposal, has yet to be submitted to all MEPs at a plenary meeting in December.
A second bill, the
Digital Services Act (
DSA), which accompanies the DMA, could then take the same step in January.
These laws will then be negotiated with EU member states.
The latter must give the green light to their own version of the texts at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
The objective is for the new legislation to come into force on January 1, 2023.
Support from Frances Haugen
Big business is lobbying relentlessly to protect their interests.
The legislative process received support earlier this month from Frances Haugen, Facebook's whistleblower.
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union for six months from January, hopes to succeed in finalizing the two laws before the summer.
The European Parliament text restricts the definition of "
systemic
"
actors
, the only ones subject to the DMA, reducing the likelihood that the regulation will apply to companies other than the five "
Gafam
".
It strengthens the powers of national competition authorities, with Germany and France wishing not to leave all power to the European Commission.
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MEPs also want advertising targeting minors to be banned and want to force platforms to make certain services, including messaging or social media, compatible with competing systems.
The lobby of large technology companies, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), criticized the changes by MEPs, seeing them as "
significant risks for the European digital economy
".