The EU Member States’ Ministers for the Internal Market and Industry will be asked to adopt their position (‘general approach’) on Thursday 25 November on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see EUROPE 12830/9) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 12835/7).
“We are happy that we have achieved the key objectives of our EU Council Presidency”, commented a Slovenian diplomatic source.
Regarding the DSA, several “delicate” solutions had to be found in order to reach a general approach, in particular regarding “key principles of the e-commerce directive, the country of origin or certain exemptions”, a source close to the dossier detailed.
“For the moment we have a balance. But when we finish a process in the EU Council, it does not mean that the Member States forget their position. Some Member States may want to reverse their decision”, she added.
With regard to the DMA, several sources considered that the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council had managed to effectively take into account the German, French and Dutch positions for the implementation of the text at national level.
The three Member States had argued in particular that they should be given more room for manoeuvre and that the Commission should not be the sole guarantor of the implementation of the text in the EU Member States.
“The Commission will remain responsible, but Member States will be able to empower national competition authorities to investigate potential breaches of the Regulation. It is a good compromise”, said another Slovenian diplomatic source.
However, other issues will still have to be resolved in future interinstitutional (‘trilogue’) negotiations.
“We were not in a position to deal with it, but some Member States would like to see the obligations of ‘gatekeepers’ extended to all essential platform services. Others want the DMA to be targeted and for the scope to be known in advance. This is the position of the Slovenian Presidency”, explained the same source.
Several sources had already indicated on Friday 19 November that they expected complicated trilogue discussions on the DSA and DMA (see EUROPE 12836/2).
In the European Parliament, MEPs on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) were asked to vote on Monday 22 November on the report by Andreas Schwab (EPP, Germany) on the DMA. The final result was not yet known at the time of writing. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)