'Gatekeepers,' EC in Push Toward DMA Compliance

Intense talks are ongoing between "gatekeepers" designated under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the European Commission as the compliance date of March 7, 2024, approaches, an EC official said Monday at a hybrid Politico panel. The six large tech giants -- Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft -- were named as gatekeepers earlier this month (see 2309060002). They were so identified because they have a certain annual revenue in the European Economic Area and provide platform services in at least three EU countries; offer core platform services to more than 45 million monthly active end users in the EU and over 10,000 yearly active businesses established in the EU; and if they met the second criterion over the past three years. The companies and EC are talking extensively about compliance plans because no one wants to be surprised March 7, said Thomas Kramler, EC Competition Directorate head of unit, digital platforms III. The EC is also, however, seeking input from third parties on compliance proposals, and wants concrete, technical feedback to "reality-check" platforms' information, he said. New gatekeepers may be designated after January 1 if businesses find they meet the required criteria, said Member of the European Parliament Andreas Schwab, of the European People's Party and Germany, rapporteur for the DMA. Unlike with competition law, the DMA puts the burden on gatekeepers to prove compliance rather than on the EC to show anticompetitive behavior, Kramler said. The DMA is about size, said Schwab: in cases where companies don't meet the criteria for classification as gatekeepers, competition law continues to apply. Asked how they will measure the law's success, Spotify Director-Global Policy Avery Gardiner said she'll consider how many innovators decide to make Europe their home, and what impact the DMA has on pricing and user experience. The DMA is about creating opportunities, so the first yardstick of success will be if businesses take advantage of those opportunities, Kramler said. Gatekeepers have the right to challenge their designations in court, he noted. Politically, the platforms have big interest in embracing the new rules to protect themselves against national antitrust authorities, Schwab added.