First important European procedure under the young law on digital markets, the Digital Market (DMA) act in force since 7 March aimed at limiting the excessive power of Big Tech on the market.
The European Commission has announced the launch of formal investigations against Apple, Alphabet and Meta for possible violations of the provision which could also lead to heavy fines for the US giants: up to 10% of turnover.
Both Apple and the parent companies of Google and Facebook have been designated as gatekeepers under the reform, along with Amazon, ByteDance-TikTok, and Microsoft.
Now Brussels suspects that Apple and Alphabet have placed restrictions or limitations on the capacity of competing developers, hindering the promotion of their services.
And the EU Commission also suspects that Alphabet favors its own Google Shopping, Google Flights or Google Hotels in searches.
And that Apple does not comply with its obligation to allow users to easily uninstall software from iOS products, or change default settings, browsers and search engines.
Finally, the investigation into Meta concerns the practice of making users decide between accessing Facebook with a subscription or giving consent to advertising by allowing the use of personal data.
“DMA compliance is something we take very seriously,” warned European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager.
If "ineffective compliance or possible circumvention of the DMA emerges, we will not hesitate to use all the tools", reported Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
And if the "lack of full compliance with the DMA really emerges, gatekeepers will face heavy fines", he warned.
“We will do everything we can to create an online space that is fair and competitive for the benefit of all consumers and businesses operating in our single market.”
In parallel to the five investigations opened on the basis of the DMA, the community executive also announced the launch of 'investigative initiatives' to verify whether Amazon favors its own products on the Amazon Store and, again on Apple, whether the new tariff structure of the Apple complies with the provisions of the DMA.
Last week the US Department of Justice accused Apple of a monopoly on smartphones and on March 4 the EU fined it 1.8 billion euros for abusing its dominant position in music streaming.
It should also be remembered that the EU had already fined Google 2.4 billion euros in 2017 precisely for self-preferencing practices.
The technology lobby Computer and Communications Industry Association (Ccia) meanwhile has denounced what it defines as a "hasty" start of investigation, a "hasty" action by the Commission.
However, the European consumer association Beuc applauds, for which the Commission's announcement is a clear boost in favor of consumers.
Google for its part responded to the investigation, reporting that with the DMA it had made "significant changes" to the way it operates in Europe: "We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months", said Google's director for Competition, Oliver Bethell.
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