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EU Competition Policy
Digital Markets Act
Fairer and more contestable digital markets in Europe
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the European Union’s regulatory framework for making digital markets fairer, more open and more contestable. It addresses the structural power of the largest digital platforms and complements the EU competition rules, which continue to apply in full. Check also this Page.
The DMA focuses on large online platforms that act as important gateways between businesses and users. When a company meets the criteria established by the Regulation, the European Commission may designate it as a gatekeeper for one or more core platform services.
These services may include:
What the DMA does
The DMA establishes a common set of legally binding obligations and prohibitions—the so-called “do’s and don’ts”—that designated gatekeepers must respect in their daily operations.
Its purpose is to prevent dominant platforms from using their position to impose unfair commercial conditions, restrict competition or make it difficult for businesses and consumers to use alternative services.
Under the DMA, gatekeepers may be required to:
At the same time, gatekeepers must not:
A preventive approach to digital competition
Traditional competition law generally intervenes after potentially anticompetitive conduct has occurred and requires an assessment of the specific market and behaviour involved.
The DMA introduces a complementary ex ante approach. It establishes predefined rules for companies whose size, reach and intermediary position give them a significant and durable influence over the digital market.
This allows the European Union to address certain harmful practices before they become entrenched and before competitors, business users or consumers suffer irreversible damage.
What the DMA means for businesses
For companies operating through major digital platforms, the DMA can provide greater commercial freedom and more transparent market conditions.
Businesses may gain:
The Regulation is particularly relevant to start-ups, SMEs, software developers, online retailers, advertisers, publishers and digital service providers that depend on large platforms to access customers and markets.
Its practical impact, however, depends on the way gatekeepers modify their services, contractual conditions, technical interfaces and business models to comply with the Regulation.
Enforcement by the European Commission
The European Commission is the principal authority responsible for enforcing the DMA. It designates gatekeepers, monitors their compliance, assesses compliance reports, conducts market investigations and may impose corrective measures.
Market investigations can be used to:
Gatekeepers that fail to comply may face fines of up to 10% of their total worldwide annual turnover, rising to 20% in cases of repeated infringement. The Commission may also impose periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily turnover. In cases of systematic non-compliance, behavioural or structural remedies may be adopted, including, as a last resort, the divestiture of parts of a business.
Why the DMA matters for EU competition policy
The Digital Markets Act represents a major development in European competition policy. It recognises that digital markets can rapidly tip in favour of a small number of platforms because of network effects, control of data, ecosystem integration and the dependency of businesses on essential digital gateways.
The DMA does not replace Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or national competition laws. Instead, it adds a dedicated regulatory instrument capable of addressing the distinctive characteristics of digital platform markets.
For businesses, following the DMA means monitoring not only the Regulation itself, but also:
The implementation of the DMA will continue to influence how digital platforms operate, how businesses reach European consumers and how competition develops across the EU digital economy.
The DMA focuses on large online platforms that act as important gateways between businesses and users. When a company meets the criteria established by the Regulation, the European Commission may designate it as a gatekeeper for one or more core platform services.
These services may include:
- online search engines;
- app stores;
- online marketplaces and intermediation services;
- social networks;
- operating systems;
- web browsers;
- messaging services;
- virtual assistants;
- cloud computing services;
- online advertising services.
What the DMA does
The DMA establishes a common set of legally binding obligations and prohibitions—the so-called “do’s and don’ts”—that designated gatekeepers must respect in their daily operations.
Its purpose is to prevent dominant platforms from using their position to impose unfair commercial conditions, restrict competition or make it difficult for businesses and consumers to use alternative services.
Under the DMA, gatekeepers may be required to:
- allow third-party services to interoperate with their platforms in specified circumstances;
- give business users access to the data generated through their activities on the platform;
- provide advertisers and publishers with information enabling them to independently verify advertising performance;
- allow businesses to promote their offers and conclude contracts with customers outside the gatekeeper’s platform;
- facilitate data portability and make it easier for users to switch to competing services;
- provide fairer access to digital ecosystems, app distribution channels and platform functionalities.
At the same time, gatekeepers must not:
- rank their own products or services more favourably than comparable services offered by competitors;
- prevent businesses from communicating or contracting directly with their customers;
- stop users from uninstalling pre-installed applications or changing default services;
- use non-public data generated by business users to compete against them;
- restrict businesses from offering different prices or commercial conditions through other channels;
- track users outside their core platform services for targeted advertising without effective consent.
A preventive approach to digital competition
Traditional competition law generally intervenes after potentially anticompetitive conduct has occurred and requires an assessment of the specific market and behaviour involved.
The DMA introduces a complementary ex ante approach. It establishes predefined rules for companies whose size, reach and intermediary position give them a significant and durable influence over the digital market.
This allows the European Union to address certain harmful practices before they become entrenched and before competitors, business users or consumers suffer irreversible damage.
What the DMA means for businesses
For companies operating through major digital platforms, the DMA can provide greater commercial freedom and more transparent market conditions.
Businesses may gain:
- improved access to platform-generated data;
- more opportunities to reach customers directly;
- greater freedom to use alternative payment, distribution and advertising channels;
- increased transparency in online advertising;
- better conditions for interoperability and data portability;
- new opportunities to compete with services offered by gatekeepers themselves.
The Regulation is particularly relevant to start-ups, SMEs, software developers, online retailers, advertisers, publishers and digital service providers that depend on large platforms to access customers and markets.
Its practical impact, however, depends on the way gatekeepers modify their services, contractual conditions, technical interfaces and business models to comply with the Regulation.
Enforcement by the European Commission
The European Commission is the principal authority responsible for enforcing the DMA. It designates gatekeepers, monitors their compliance, assesses compliance reports, conducts market investigations and may impose corrective measures.
Market investigations can be used to:
- designate additional companies or services as gatekeepers;
- examine possible infringements;
- update obligations where digital markets evolve;
- identify systematic non-compliance;
- determine appropriate behavioural or structural remedies.
Gatekeepers that fail to comply may face fines of up to 10% of their total worldwide annual turnover, rising to 20% in cases of repeated infringement. The Commission may also impose periodic penalty payments of up to 5% of average daily turnover. In cases of systematic non-compliance, behavioural or structural remedies may be adopted, including, as a last resort, the divestiture of parts of a business.
Why the DMA matters for EU competition policy
The Digital Markets Act represents a major development in European competition policy. It recognises that digital markets can rapidly tip in favour of a small number of platforms because of network effects, control of data, ecosystem integration and the dependency of businesses on essential digital gateways.
The DMA does not replace Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or national competition laws. Instead, it adds a dedicated regulatory instrument capable of addressing the distinctive characteristics of digital platform markets.
For businesses, following the DMA means monitoring not only the Regulation itself, but also:
- gatekeeper designation decisions;
- compliance reports and technical measures;
- Commission investigations and enforcement proceedings;
- changes to app stores, search engines and operating systems;
- interoperability and data-access requirements;
- developments in online advertising;
- opportunities for complaints, consultations and stakeholder engagement.
The implementation of the DMA will continue to influence how digital platforms operate, how businesses reach European consumers and how competition develops across the EU digital economy.
Reports
Article 35 DMA requires the Commission to submit an annual report on the implementation of the DMA and the progress made towards achieving its objectives.
DMA Annual Report 2023
DMA Annual Report 2024
DMA Annual Report 2025
Article 35 DMA requires the Commission to submit an annual report on the implementation of the DMA and the progress made towards achieving its objectives.
DMA Annual Report 2023
DMA Annual Report 2024
DMA Annual Report 2025
