Key diary dates
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Monday 28 April – Exchange of views between Commission competition chief Teresa Ribera and EU Parliament’s internal markets committee on the Digital Markets Act.
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Tuesday 29 – Wednesday 30 April – European People’s Party Congress in Valencia Spain.
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Wednesday 30 April – Executive Vice-President Ribera gives keynote address at Global Competition Law Centre annual conference in Brussels.
In spotlight
When MEPs “exchange views” with the Commission’s competition chief Teresa Ribera later today on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) they will spotlight an uncomfortable perception that the EU’s flagship digital regulation is susceptible to political influence.
Last week the EU executive ordered Apple and Meta to pay a combined €700m in the first fines issued under the legislation: a €500m fine to Apple over its App Store, while Meta was slapped with a €200m penalty over how much choice users had to consent to data collection.
The tech firms swiftly announced they will challenge the decision, with Meta accusing the EU of “attempting to handicap successful American businesses” and Apple saying it was being “unfairly targeted” and forced to “give away our technology for free”.
The timing of the decisions amid the US tariff onslaught was tricky since it has pulled the DMA into the ambit of the trade dispute.
Since his return to power and backed by Big Tech CEOs, US President Donald Trump has put pressure on the EU over its digital regulations, accusing the Commission of taxing US tech enterprises.
The EU insists that the DMA and its sister regulation the Digital Services Act (DSA) are agnostic non-discriminatory regulations that are not up for discussion in the scope of negotiations surrounding trade tariffs, while the US administration has signalled that it views them as non-tariff barriers to trade that should be on the table in those talks.
Last week’s fines were at the lower end of the scale the Commission could levy, however, and the executive also closed two cases into the companies, issues that MEPs on the Parliament’s committee on the internal market and consumer protection seem likely to flag in today’s session with Teresa Ribera.
Noisy opining from EU lawmakers on how Ribera should apply the DMA will help reinforce US Big Tech’s arguments that the instrument is being used to clobber them disproportionately, and they will likely be keeping a close eye on the exchange.
Policy newsmakers
Tech and trade wars
The European Commission last week fined tech giants Apple and Meta €700 million in total for non-complying with the Digital Market Act (DMA), at risk of aggravating the current trade tensions with the US. “Apple and Meta have fallen short of compliance with the DMA by implementing measures that reinforce the dependence of business users and consumers on their platforms,” said EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera.“The European Commission is attempting to handicap successful American businesses while allowing Chinese and European companies to operate under different standards,” Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, hit back. Both US companies are appealing.
