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If suspicions are confirmed, companies face fines of up to 10% of the global annual income or up to 20% – in case of repeated violation.
As The Verge reports, the European Commission has launched five investigations into Apple, Google and Meta's compliance with new EU antitrust rules.
“We suspect that the solutions proposed by the three companies do not fully comply with the Digital Markets Act,” said Margrethe Vestager, chair of the EU competition committee. “We are launching an investigation to ensure open and competitive digital markets in Europe.”
The commission will review Google and Apple's policies on their software stores and whether Google gives its own services an advantage in search results. The browser selection screen on iOS and Meta's new “ad-free” subscription will also be explored. The investigation is expected to be completed within the next 12 months.
Additionally, EU regulators will examine Apple's new fee structure for distributing software outside the App Store, and will also look into whether Amazon gives preference to its own products in the store. Meta was also given 6 months to make Messenger compatible with other messaging services.
“We are not confident that Alphabet, Apple and Meta are meeting their commitments to a fair and open digital space for European citizens and companies,” EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said. “If our investigation concludes that we are not fully compliant with the Digital Markets Act, companies could face significant fines.”
- The Digital Markets Act, which came into force on March 7, proposes new antitrust rules for six so-called “gatekeepers” – large digital platforms providing online services (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and ByteDance ).
- Gatekeepers are required, among other things, to allow customers to change default programs, use third-party software stores, and remove pre-installed applications; Among the prohibitions is promoting your services in your own services ahead of competitors.
- For the first violation, the European Commission can fine each company up to 10% of annual global revenue, and up to 20% for a second violation.
Recall that earlier the EU fined Apple $2 billion based on Spotify’s complaint about “blocking” alternative music programs, and then the US Department of Justice initiated its own antitrust investigation against the company.
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