The Commission welcomes the political agreement on rules to ensure fair and open digital markets
The Commission welcomes the swift agreement reached between the European Parliament and the EU on the Digital Markets Act.
The regulation, agreed on March 25, 2022, just over a year after it was proposed, is one of the first initiatives of its kind to fully regulate the ability of the largest digital companies to act as gatekeepers.
The Digital Markets Act will apply to information entry security guards. These are companies that create barriers between businesses and consumers and sometimes even control entire ecosystems consisting of different platform services, such as online trading venues, operating systems, cloud services or online search engines. These security guards will be subject to a number of clearly defined obligations and prohibitions imposed on the most unfair market practices or practices that create or increase barriers for other businesses. The overall goal is to ensure the availability of digital services offered by security guards at the information entrance.
At the same time, the legislation will create an effective enforcement mechanism to ensure the rapid implementation of specific obligations.
The Digital Markets Act is part of an ambitious reform of the digital space - together with the Digital Services Act, which aims to ensure a safe and responsible online environment. These legal acts will establish a comprehensive set of new rules for all digital services, including social media, online shopping venues and other online platforms operating in the European Union. This is a key element of the European strategy to prepare Europe for the digital age.
The Digital Markets Act will complement the implementation of competition law at EU and national level. The new rules are without prejudice to the application of EU and Member States' competition rules to unilateral conduct.
next steps
The political agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council is now subject to formal approval by the two co-legislators. Once adopted, the Digital Markets Act will be directly applicable across the EU, with implementation six months after its entry into force.
Context
In December 2020, the Commission proposed the Digital Markets Act to address the negative effects of certain types of behavior on online platforms acting as digital "gateways" within the EU single market.
When a security gatekeeper engages in business practices that, for example, treat his or her own services more favorably or prevent his or her own business users from reaching consumers, he or she may hinder or delay the provision of valuable and innovative services developed by his or her business users. and competitors. In addition, when an information entry security guard engages in unfair practices, such as imposing unfair conditions on access to their app store or preventing apps from being installed from other sources, users are likely to pay higher prices or even be deprived of the benefits that alternative services could offer.
The Digital Markets Act will be implemented through a robust supervisory framework, according to which the Commission will be the only law enforcement authority, in close cooperation with the authorities in the EU. The Commission will be able to impose sanctions and fines of up to 10% of the global turnover of companies, and in case of repeated violations - up to 20%. In the event of systemic infringements, the Commission will also be able to impose the behavioral or structural remedies necessary to ensure the effectiveness of commitments, including a ban on further acquisitions related to infringements.
Finally, the Digital Markets Act empowers the Commission to conduct market research to ensure that the obligations set out in the regulation are up-to-date in the face of constant changes in digital markets.
For more information
Press release on the publication of the digital services package
Questions and answers on the EC proposal for a Legislation on Digital Markets
Website for the EC proposal for a Legislation on Digital Markets
According to the European Commission, IP / 22/1978
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