On Wednesday 15 December, MEPs in Strasbourg adopted the ‘Schwab’ report on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (642 votes in favour, 8 votes against and 46 abstentions) (see EUROPE 12838/6).
MEPs had voted the day before, on Tuesday 14 December, on the various amendments tabled. There are several changes to the text, such as extending the scope of the obligation of gatekeepers to their ancillary services.
The amendments tabled on the interoperability of services – which were intended to prevent major digital players from imposing formats that are only accessible on their platforms – were rejected, as were those regarding the cross-use of data by gatekeepers.
In addition, several political groups in the European Parliament have called for stricter rules on the control of predatory acquisitions in order to avoid the concentration of companies in the hands of a few major players in the sector and in order to foster innovation. These amendments were not adopted either.
“The text is too weak on predatory acquisitions”, said French MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew Europe), who also regretted the fact that “future compliance officers within digital giants will not be appointed by the Commission, but internally”.
In the Council of the EU, the ministers of EU Member States had adopted their position (‘general approach’) on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on Thursday 25 November (see EUROPE 12836/2).
The interinstitutional negotiations will start during the French Presidency of the EU Council, which will begin in January 2022. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)