DMA: European Commission reveals seven “gatekeepers”

On July 4, 2023, the European Commission published a list of seven companies that meet the definition of “gatekeepers” set by the Digital Market Act (DMA). Starting next year, they will have to comply with strong regulatory requirements to curtail abuse of a dominant position.

These “gatekeepers” are digital platforms with a market cap over 75 Billion EUR or 7.5 Billion EUR in sales in the European Union. Moreover, they have at least 45 million monthly users or 10,000 professional clients in the EU.

There are no surprises on the list. It includes the five US giants known as Big Tech, or the Big Five: Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Amazon, Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram), Apple and Microsoft. Also on the list are the Korean company, Samsung (for the service platform featured on its smartphones) and the Chinese corporation, ByteDance (TikTok’s publisher). The Dutch Booking.com could soon join them.

The Commission will release a definitive list of “gatekeepers” on September 6, 2023. The platforms will have to comply with the DMA starting from March 6, 2024. In particular they will be prohibited from collecting data without user consent, and required to provide messenger interoperability to stimulate competition. The platforms will also have to notify authorities whenever they acquire a company, no matter its size.

Moreover, the “gatekeepers” will be forbidden from favoring their services over those of third-party developers. The DMA will thus enable smartphone users to use app stores other than those of Google and Apple. Users will also be able to erase all preinstalled apps on a mobile terminal and choose their default apps for each purpose.