Apple and the European Union are in renewed conflict over the Digital Markets Act (DMA). DMA is an important regulation by the European Commission to address the market dominance of large platform enterprises (i.e. “gatekeepers”) in the digital market. The main objective is to ensure fairness and openness in the digital market and to prevent the abuse of market power by large firms and to limit their anti-competitive behaviour.
In its official advisory opinion to the European Commission, Apple stated: “DMA should be abolished, while more targeted legislative instruments should be developed”. This exchange is taking place at a time when Trump is putting pressure on the European Union to influence the decision-making and law of America’s technology giant. Since Trump came to power, leaders of the science and technology industry, including Apple CEO Cook, have gradually approached the White House. “It is clear that DMA is causing a deterioration in the experience of apple users in the EU,” the apple said in the accompanying blog, “The bill exposes users to new risks and undermines the simple and seamless synergetic experience of apple products.” Apple claimed that if the law could not be completely repealed, a comprehensive reform should be promoted and recommended that the enforcement of the law “should be carried out by independent European institutions” rather than by the European Commission, which had both administrative and digital powers.
DMA challenges the closed ecosystems of apples, but Brussels argued that this was necessary to create a level playing field for apple competitors and avoid market monopolies. The Act clearly defines what the giants of technology can and cannot do on their platforms, such as the need to provide browsers and search engine selection screens to give users more choice. In April this year, the European Union fined apples 500 million euros on the basis of DMA, which has been appealed. Apple points out that security risks arise when European users are able to download applications that compete with their app stores. It also cited a proliferation of complaints by users about DMA-related changes, but did not provide specific data. In this 25-page opinion, Apple argues that EU law forces companies to delay the introduction of new functions in the EU. For example, the real-time translation function has not yet been deployed — the technology allows users to translate in real-time during dialogue through AirPods. This technology was introduced in the United States this month, but Apple indicated that additional engineering technology development was required to ensure EU user privacy.
Under the DMA regulations, enterprises, including apples, must ensure that their products work seamlessly with third-party equipment such as headphones. The European Commission responded that enterprises sometimes needed more time to ensure that products conformed to the new law was “normal” and indicated that it was helping them to comply. DMA enforcement was launched in March 2024, and the first EU review consultation on the law was completed by midnight on Wednesday. Beyond digital regulation, apples face pressure from different European Union competition rules and were fined 1.8 billion euros by the European Commission in March 2024.
