From Nov. 1, 2022, the World Wide Web may not be the place it used to be. The Digital Markets Act is the European Union’s (EU) new law to “make the markets in the digital sector fairer & more contestable.”
According to this announcement on the EU Website, the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) establishes a set of clearly defined objective criteria to identify “gatekeepers”. Gatekeepers are large digital platforms providing so called core platform services, such as for example Online search engines, app stores, messenger services, to name a few. Gatekeepers will have to comply with the do’s (i.e. obligations) & don’ts (i.e. prohibitions) listed in the DMA.
The DMA is one of the first regulatory tools to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies. The DMA complements, but does not change EU competition rules, which continue to apply fully.
What is in the DMA and from when does it apply?
Following the initial proposal of the European Commission in December 2020, the Regulation was adopted by the European Parliament & the Council on 14 September 2022. It was published in the Official Journal on 12 October 2022.
The DMA enters into force on November 1, 2022 & will become applicable on May 2, 2023. Within two months of that date, companies providing core platform services will have to notify the Commission if they meet the quantitative thresholds & provide all relevant information. The Commission will then have 45 working days to adopt a decision designating a specific gatekeeper. The designated gatekeepers will have a maximum of six months after the Commission decision to ensure compliance with the obligations & prohibitions laid down in the DMA.
Documents published by the European Parliament & the Council provide a good overview of the relevant do’s and don’ts that gatekeepers will have to respect.
