On Wednesday 5 November, BEUC [the European Consumer Organisation] published an initial analysis of the eighteen months since the EU implemented the Digital Market Act (DMA). While on the whole the organisation considers the changes introduced by the act positive, it also believes that the act needs to accelerate to truly meet its stated ambitions.
In fact, BEUC explains that the DMA has indeed brought improvements to the European digital ecosystem, with the ability to choose search engines other than those pre-installed or to download applications without going through the mandatory app store.
However, doubts remain: investigations remain limited, sanctions few and far between, and the designation of gatekeepers has not fully incorporated new technologies such as AI or cloud services, deplores BEUC.
The organisation urges the Commission to shift up a gear: without rapidly strengthening enforcement (investigations, sanctions) and adapting the framework to cover new technological challenges, the DMA may not achieve its ambitious objectives of “fair and contestable digital markets”, warns the report.
Two significant fines have already been imposed by the European Commission under the DMA: one against Apple and one against Meta, which were fined €500 million and €200 million respectively by the EU last April (see EUROPE 13626/2).
See the BEUC report: https://aeur.eu/f/jci (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)