Leading tech companies, including Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft, have informed the European Commission that they meet the criteria for gatekeeper designation, as stated by EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Tuesday.
According to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect in November, companies with over 45 million monthly active users and a market capitalization of 75 billion euros are classified as gatekeepers providing core platform services.
Samsung and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, have also stated their compliance with the EU thresholds, as confirmed by Breton.
Breton highlighted that Europe is undergoing a significant reorganization of its digital landscape to safeguard EU citizens and foster innovation for startups and companies in the region.
Following an evaluation of the data provided by the companies, the Commission will officially designate the gatekeeper status by September 6. Afterward, the designated companies will have six months to adhere to the DMA regulations.
Booking.com anticipates meeting the gatekeeper threshold by the end of the year and plans to notify the EU executive accordingly.
Gatekeeper-designated companies will be required to ensure interoperability of their messaging apps with competitors’ platforms and allow users to choose which apps to pre-install on their devices.
Additionally, these companies will be prohibited from favoring their own services over rivals’ offerings or impeding users from uninstalling pre-installed software or apps. These rules will have a significant impact on Google and Apple.
Non-compliance with DMA regulations may result in fines of up to 10% of the companies’ annual global turnover.
