EU Digital Markets Act

Overview

The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, is an ex ante competition regulation that targets the largest digital platforms, known as gatekeepers. It became applicable in May 2023, with gatekeeper designations and compliance deadlines following in 2024. The DMA aims to make digital markets fairer and more contestable by imposing clear do's and don'ts on gatekeepers, rather than relying solely on case-by-case antitrust enforcement.

The DMA works alongside the Digital Services Act. While the DSA addresses content and safety, the DMA addresses market power and competition.

Who It Applies To

The DMA applies to gatekeepers: large companies providing core platform services such as app stores, search engines, social networks, messaging services, browsers, operating systems, and online advertising, that meet quantitative thresholds on turnover, user numbers, and entrenched market position. The European Commission formally designates gatekeepers and the specific services covered.

Key Requirements

Gatekeepers must allow business users to promote offers and conclude contracts outside the platform, permit interoperability in defined cases (such as messaging), provide business users access to the data they generate, and enable data portability for end users. They must not self-preference their own products in rankings, must not require use of their identity or payment services as a tying condition, and must not combine personal data across services without consent. Several obligations promote app sideloading and alternative app stores on covered operating systems.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

The Commission can impose fines of up to ten percent of global annual turnover, rising to twenty percent for repeated infringements, plus periodic penalty payments. For systematic non-compliance, the Commission can impose additional remedies, including behavioral and structural measures.

How to Comply

Designated gatekeepers must implement interoperability, data-access, and portability mechanisms, end self-preferencing and prohibited tying, and obtain consent before cross-service data combination. They must document compliance and report to the Commission. Business users and competitors should understand their new rights to data, fair ranking, and off-platform transactions.