EC reaction to Apple and Meta's non-compliance

The European Commission imposed its first penalties on 23 April for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – for the conditions applied by Apple to restrict the transfer of users, and for the "yes or pay" model applied by Meta. Penalties were imposed of EUR 500 million and EUR 200 million respectively.

Anna Cavazzini (Greens/WSE, DE), president of the Committee on the interior marketplace and Consumer Protection, commented on the decision as follows: "Today's decision is in no way the beginning of a "technological war" in consequence to Donald Trump's unpredictable customs policy. It is simply a consistent implementation of existing EU law. It besides includes, as a last resort, the anticipation of imposing penalties on Apple and Meta under DMA rules to guarantee that they comply with European digital law. Avoiding this is very simple – companies must simply comply with EU law."

"DMA will benefit tiny and medium-sized technology companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic – a legal act that promotes fair competition. It fights unfair practices that prevent smaller players from accessing customers or accessing data controlled by larger companies through their dominant marketplace position."

"All companies in the EU single marketplace must comply with EU rules – whether they are established in or outside the EU. If the Commission were to further hold the proceedings clearly set out in the legislation, it could give a very disturbing impression that the Union is being blackmailed by Trump. It is worth mentioning that besides in the United States proceedings against the monopolistic position of any large technology companies were launched this week."

The European Commission considered that Apple had breached the anti-steering ban resulting from DMA, and Meta did not supply users with a real choice of little privacy services. Penalties were imposed of EUR 500 million and EUR 200 million respectively.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to guarantee fair and competitive marketplace playing in the digital sector. It regulates access guards, large digital platforms that are key links between businesses and consumers. The scale of action and the strength of these actors can lead to marketplace monopolisation and regulation of competition. DMA is 1 of the first comprehensive tools to regulate marketplace power of the largest digital companies. The Act entered into force on 1 November 2022 and began to apply on 2 May 2023.

On 23 January 2025, members of the working group on DMA, together with the chair of the IMCO and another Euro MPs, sent a letter to the Commission's executive vice-presidents, Pia Virkkunen and Teresa Riber. It called on the Commission to velocity up the ongoing proceedings, to monitor closely artificial intelligence and cloud services and to consider their possible designation as basic platform services. (EC)