Stricter rules for large digital companies will come into force in the EU at the beginning of March. They are intended to limit their market power. But Brussels is now granting exceptions for some services from Apple and Microsoft.
The tech giants Apple and Microsoft have achieved partial success against the EU Commission. Certain company services do not initially fall under the strict rules for online companies – contrary to what was initially envisaged by the Brussels authorities. This affects Apple’s messaging service iMessage, Microsoft’s search engine Bing, the browser Edge and the advertising service Microsoft Advertising, the commission said.
Accordingly, these services are not relevant enough to act as so-called gatekeepers to influence the market and hinder fair competition. The US companies therefore demanded last year that the services be exempt from the new law. The EU Commission now agreed with them in this case.
However, Apple and Microsoft still have to adapt to stricter requirements under the Digital Markets Act (DMA): Other services from the two US companies are still on the list of so-called gatekeepers, including Apple’s App Store. This also includes several Google services, the online retailer Amazon and the platforms Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.
Fines for violations
For example, when the new EU regulations come into force, companies will have less control over which apps are pre-installed on cell phones. In addition, messenger services should become interoperable. This means that users can send messages or images between different apps for the first time.
Large messenger services such as WhatsApp and iMessage must also be open to receiving messages from smaller messengers. Violations can result in heavy fines and, in exceptional cases, even separation.
The law only comes into effect when annual sales are high
Companies fall under the Digital Markets Act if they have an annual turnover of at least 7.5 billion euros or an average market capitalization of at least 75 billion euros.
They must also operate a so-called central platform service with at least 45 million active users in the EU and 10,000 active commercial users per month.