The European Union (EU) is set on fully enforcing its digital rulebook taken from its Digital Markets Act (DMA) on large companies that have presence in the region, regardless of whoever is in charge, or what their nationality may be, EU President Ursula von der Leyen tells Politico.
Politico quoted von der Leyen, President of the Commission, saying “That’s why we’ve opened cases against TikTok, X, Apple, Meta just to name a few. We apply the rules fairly, proportionally, and without bias. We don’t care where a company’s from and who’s running it. We care about protecting people.”
She further emphasizes in written replies to questions about the EU’s commitment to its DMA saying, “The rules voted by our co-legislators must be enforced,” as the aim of the DMA is to level the playing field that give EU consumers more choice, as well as ensure that companies that are gatekeepers comply with digital market regulations in the European digital market.
As such, it sets out measures that companies such as Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking.com, ByteDance, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, need to comply with. This means these measures are not only set out for American businesses.
However, the EU’s DMA has been widely criticized, most especially by President Trump’s administration. In February, he signed a memorandum that warns how his administration will carefully examine the economic bloc’s Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act “that dictate how American companies interact with consumers in the European Union.”
In spite of that, the EU is not slowing down with rolling out compliance measures and issuing fines under its DMA, as the commission has just recently placed a total fine of €700 million on both Meta and Apple for violating personal data laws, and not opening up its ecosystem to other competitors in the European market.
