Big Tech slammed by rivals for falling short of complying with EU’s Digital Markets Act

As the deadline to comply with the EU’s Big Tech rulebook is fast approaching, the competitors of the designated gatekeepers are worried they are nowhere near satisfactory compliance.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a landmark EU law targeting companies that have acquired such a dominant position in critical sectors of the internet economy to act as ‘gatekeepers’ between business users and consumers.

In September, the European Commission designated six companies as gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft. There are 22 so-called ‘core platform services’ that dominate specific digital markets, including social networks like TikTok and web browsers like Chrome.

In these sectors, the DMA mandates a list of dos and don’ts that gatekeepers must follow to ensure that they cannot unduly leverage their market power to entrench their position and prevent the emergence of competitors.

However, with 50 days to the compliance deadline of 6 March, several rival companies are ringing the alarm bells concerning the gatekeepers’ lack of effective engagement’, asking them to initiate a constructive dialogue with business users and consumer organisations.

Meta challenges EU’s Big Tech rulebook over Messanger, Markeplace

Meta is appealing the designation of its instant messaging platform Messenger and intermediation service Marketplace that would make them subject to Europe’s strict regime of ex-ante rules.

Under the Digital Markets Act, tech companies that have acquired such a dominant position …

“Gatekeepers have either failed to engage in a dialogue with third parties or have presented solutions falling short of compliance with the DMA,” reads an open letter published on Tuesday (16 January).

“March 2024 is the beginning of a new era, in which gatekeepers, regulators, business users and consumer associations will have to cooperate to make the DMA a regulatory success story. It would be regrettable if that new era began with a false start, which will happen if the gatekeepers do not constructively engage with third parties,” the letter continues.

The signatories include the companies Adevinta, Allegro, Billiger, CENEO, Compare Group, Ecosia, Element, FAVI, Heureka Group, Idealo, Kelkoo, Ladenzeile, Le Guide.com, OLX, OpenXchange, Parther Holding, preis.de, Prisjakt, Proton, Qwant, Runnea, Schibsted, solute and Vipps.

Regarding trade associations, the initiative was supported by the Coalition for App Fairness, the Coalition for Competitive Digital Markets, the European Digital SME Alliance, the European Publishers Council, the European Tech Alliance, eu travel tech, iconomy, the Internet Economy Foundation and News Media Europe.

The letter is particularly significant as the signatories represent thousands of businesses in direct competition with the Big Tech companies involved, some of which have taken part as plaintiffs in competition probes like the seminal Google Shopping case.

The statement concludes by asking “the European Commission and the European Parliament to use all within their power to ensure that the gatekeepers comply with both the letter and spirit of the DMA.”

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

Read more with Euractiv

Pro-Russian disinformation in Bulgaria achieves its goals, experts say

Euractiv Bulgaria interviewed Ralitsa Kovacheva (Factcheck.bg), Marina Tsekova (Bulgarian national radio) and Rosen Bosev (AFP factcheck), who stressed that disinformation in the country is so widespread that it easily influences national politics.