The European Digital Markets Act puts a stop to Big Tech to encourage competition

After a meeting between the negotiators of the European Parliament and those of the European Council, the European Union announced the first green light to the "Digital Markets Act", which, as also indicated in the press release released yesterday, "inaugurates a new era of regulation technology all over the world ”and“ puts an end to the growing domination of Big Tech companies “. Furthermore, "DMA should deliver immediately tangible results: consumers will have the choice to use the core services of Big Tech companies such as browsers, search engines or messaging, and all this without losing control over their data".



Photo Credit: Unsplash.com In practice, this is a law that should give the possibility even to the smallest technological companies to compete with the larger ones, which are mainly based in United States. For example, giants like WhatsApp, Messenger and iMessage will need to be able to interoperate with other less popular applications, should it be required. This will impose new obligations, as reported to colleagues at The Verge, on companies considered "gatekeepers", in practice those with a market capitalization of at least 75 billion euros, at least 45 million monthly users and who own a platform (app or social network).


We have a deal on #DMA! Last trilogue with @Europarl_EN and @EUCouncil ended with a good, strong agreement.

Tune into our press conference tomorrow 8:45 pic.twitter.com/krHHsOqG8u

- Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) March 24, 2022



Once the legal text is finalized on a technical level and checked by lawyer linguists, it will have to be approved by both the Parliament and the Council. Once this process is complete, it will take effect 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal and the rules will apply six months later. For the entry into force, therefore, we will have to wait at least until next autumn.