The rapporteurs for the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see EUROPE 12902/38) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) (see EUROPE 12900/18) briefed members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on Wednesday 16 March on the state of play of the inter-institutional negotiations (‘trilogues’).
On the DMA, the Council of the EU and Parliament reached several agreements in the last trilogue on 2 March. “There has been progress”, noted Andreas Schwab (EPP, Germany).
Specifically, Article 8 was approved in line with Parliament’s proposal. This concerns the possibility for the Commission to exceptionally suspend an obligation of a gatekeeper, should it jeopardise its continued existence.
The same applies to Article 9 - which allows the Commission to waive certain obligations of gatekeepers on grounds of public morality, health or safety - which was also approved in line with Parliament’s proposal.
In addition, agreements were also reached on Article 6.1, concerning the obligations of gatekeepers that may be specified, and on Article 11, concerning the guarantees of ‘non-circumvention’ of the DMA.
The EU Council and Parliament also agreed on the control of company acquisitions and the balance of the DMA with existing merger rules, on audit obligations for gatekeepers, on complaint mechanisms in case of non-compliance with the DMA, and on the possibility for the Commission to intervene and request interim measures from gatekeepers.
“We have given political direction to the technical group to prepare the elements of the DMA’s non-compliance, the issue of fines, and the process of appointing gatekeepers”, said Mr Schwab.
The next trilogue will take place on 21 March. On this occasion, several major issues will have to be addressed, such as online advertising or interoperability. “We expect the EU Council to move forward”, concluded Andreas Schwab.
Christel Schaldemose hopes for a quick agreement on the DSA
As for the DSA, progress has been more tentative. There is nothing abnormal about this according to Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark), the rapporteur on the dossier, the third trilogue took place on 15 March. “In the first trilogue, we set the scene, in the second, we take stock of the position of Parliament and the EU Council, and in the third, we go into a bit more detail”, she summarised.
Several issues were raised during the discussions. “We talked about risk assessment and online marketplaces, we opened the topic of the black box of algorithms”, Mrs Schaldemose explained.
The issues of defining large platforms and ‘dark patterns’ were also raised.
There was also an exploratory debate on compensation mechanisms in the event of infringements and on online advertising, which, as with the DMA, is a stumbling block.
“We haven’t reached an agreement, but I think we can conclude the matter quickly. This is within our reach, even if the positions of Parliament and the EU Council are still different on some issues”, said Mrs Schaldemose.
Two trilogues - the exact dates of which are not yet known - will take place at the end of March and April. “I don’t know if we will need more”, she said optimistically. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)