Europe 1 with AFP // Credits: DENIS CHARLET / AFP 6:00 p.m., March 5, 2024

The European Union's "Digital Market Act" will come into force next Thursday.

This regulation attacks GAFAM which will have to comply with the standards of the old continent in order to guarantee fairer competition on the market. 

The European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which a handful of technology giants including Apple, Google and Meta must comply with from Thursday, intends to put an end to their abuse of position dominant.

The European Commission noted that its traditional rules, too slow and insufficiently dissuasive, had failed to prevent certain dominant players, essentially the American "Gafam" (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft), from imposing unfair conditions on their rivals.

Over the years, they have curbed or even ousted competition in several key markets.

With the DMA, the EU is equipped with a legislative arsenal adapted to the realities of the digital economy, to protect the emergence and growth of start-ups in Europe and improve the choice offered to users.

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Gafam in the viewfinder 

The new rules concern groups active in at least 3 European countries, exceeding 75 billion euros in market capitalization or 7.5 billion in sales in Europe, and registering at least 45 million active end users and 10,000 business users in Europe .

For the moment these are the Americans Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft and the Chinese ByteDance, owner of TikTok.

They are called “access controllers” because they are considered essential for their users and subject to specific constraints.

The Commission has designated a total of 22 key platforms belonging to these six groups: four social networks (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn), two instant messaging services (WhatsApp and Messenger), three operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows) , a search engine (Google), two browsers (Chrome, Safari), six intermediation services (Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, App Store and Meta Marketplace), the video sharing site Youtube, as well as advertising services from Google, Amazon and Meta.

Booking, the Dutch champion of hotel reservations, and the social network

Non-discriminatory conditions and diversity of suppliers 

“Access controllers” must inform Brussels of any planned acquisition of a digital company in Europe, regardless of the size of the target.

Objective: to curb the monopolization of innovation and takeovers with the sole aim of eliminating a competitor.

The Google search engine is prohibited from granting a more favorable ranking to products and services of the same group.

It has long been accused of favoring its Google Shopping price comparison in particular.

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Large platforms tend to "lock" users by pushing them to use their pre-installed services: internet browser, maps, weather... DMA guarantees the possibility of uninstalling these services integrated by default and facilitates the choice of alternatives .

Users must be able to choose the software application stores of their choice and download their applications directly from the suppliers' sites, without going through the dominant players: the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Apple no longer has the right to impose the use of its Apple Pay payment service on developers who wish to list their applications in the App Store.

WhatsApp and Messenger instant messaging must be made interoperable with competitor services that request it.

“Access controllers” must grant all suppliers of accessories, such as smart watches or glasses, the same access to their operating systems or software in order not to penalize any competitors.

More transparent use of data 

“Access controllers” are prohibited from cross-referencing data collected across different platforms for advertising targeting of their users without their consent – ​​a practice at the heart of Google and Meta’s business models.

They no longer have the right to use data generated by their client companies to compete with them, as Amazon is accused of having done for years.

They must provide their customers with access to this data.

The legislation introduces data portability to make it easier for users of an online service to change providers.

Advertisers and publishers gain increased access to advertising data to know, in particular, who sees banners online and, thus, better evaluate their effectiveness.

Fines of up to 10% of turnover 

To avoid any fragmentation of the internal market, the power of control and sanctions is entrusted to the European Commission, which has set up a team of experts currently numbering around a hundred people.

The regulation provides for fines of up to 10% of the company's global turnover, and even 20% in the event of a repeat offense.

As a last resort, the Commission may impose dismantling of the offender by forcing him to sell an activity.