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The European Commission has launched a non-compliance investigation against Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). As stated in a note and as announced by the EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, the Commission has launched an investigation against the three American giants and, in particular, into possible non-compliance of Google Play and Google Search, of the App Store and Safari’s search screen, and the “payment and consent model” of Meta, which controls Facebook.
The Commission suspects that the measures implemented are not able to guarantee effective fulfillment of the obligations imposed by the DMA. Furthermore, the Commission has launched investigations into the new pricing structure of Apple for alternative app stores and Amazon’s ranking practices on its marketplace. Finally, the Commission ordered companies to retain certain documents to monitor the effective implementation and compliance with their obligations.
«We express concern and continue to monitor the situation closely. In general, we want the DMA to be applied precisely and make sure that no company tries to circumvent the rules”, said Vestager, underlining that the Commission “always works with all parties involved to verify whether there are irregularities”.
Investigation to be completed in 12 months, risk of heavy fines
The commissioner explained that, at the moment, the investigation has been launched against some companies, but “it does not mean that other groups are not involved if critical issues emerge”. The investigation, Vestager said, “should be concluded within 12 months.” In the event of a violation, the Commission can impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s total turnover globally, which can increase to 20% in the event of a repeat violation.
More specifically, the Commission has initiated proceedings to assess whether the measures implemented by Alphabet and Apple in relation to their obligations on app stores violate the DMA: Article 5 of the law requires gatekeepers to allow app developers to “direct ” (steer) consumers towards offers outside of app stores, for free. The Commission also wants to ascertain whether Alphabet’s display of Google search results could lead to self-referentiality in relation to Google’s vertical search services (for example, Google Shopping, Google Flights and Google Hotels) compared to similar services of competitors.