Eucrim regularly reports on the EU's major new legislation regulating the digital space, i.e., the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act (→ eucrim 1/2024, 12-13 with further references). The Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (→eucrim 4/2022, 228-230). It regulates gatekeepers: large digital platforms that provide an important gateway between business users and consumers. Their position can grant them the power to act as bottlenecks in the digital economy.

The following is an overview of the latest developments since the news on the DMA in →eucrim 2/2025, 122 (covering the period May – October 2025). For other overviews, →eucrim 1/2025, 13-14 (covering the period January – April 2025) and →eucrim 4/2024, 178-179 (covering the period October-December 2024).

• 13 November 2025: The European Commission opens formal proceedings to assess whether Alphabet Inc. complies with its obligations under the DMA in relation to the treatment of media publishers in Google Search. The investigation focuses on Google’s “site reputation abuse policy”, which may demote publishers’ websites in search results when they host content from commercial partners. The Commission is examining whether this practice could undermine fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory access to Google Search, potentially affecting publishers’ ability to monetise their content and cooperate with third-party providers. The opening of proceedings does not prejudge the outcome of the case. If the Commission ultimately finds an infringement of the DMA, it may impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s global turnover, or up to 20% in the event of repeated violations, alongside additional remedies.
• 18 November 2025: The Commission opens three market investigations under the DMA concerning the cloud computing sector. Two investigations will assess whether Amazon and Microsoft should be designated as gatekeepers for their cloud services Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, despite these services not meeting the quantitative DMA thresholds. The Commission will examine whether the two platforms function as key gateways between businesses and users and whether structural features of the cloud market reinforce their strong market positions. If designated as gatekeepers, the services would be added to the list of core platform services already covered by the DMA. A third investigation will examine whether the DMA effectively is addressing potentially unfair or anti-competitive practices in the cloud sector, including interoperability barriers, restricted access to data, bundling of services, and imbalanced contractual terms. The Commission aims to conclude the gatekeeper investigations within twelve months.
• 8 December 2025: Meta Platforms commits to offering EU users a choice between different advertising models on Facebook and Instagram to comply with the DMA. Under the new approach, users can either consent to the use of their data for fully personalised advertising or opt for a version of the services based on more limited data sharing and reduced personalisation.
• 12 December 2025: The High-Level Group on the Digital Markets Act holds its fifth meeting to discuss cooperation between authorities responsible for enforcing the EU’s digital regulatory framework. The discussion focuses on how different legal instruments of the EU digital acquis can be applied in a coordinated way in digital markets. The group also endorses a joint paper on artificial intelligence that maps regulatory interactions affecting AI across the EU framework, including competition, data protection, consumer protection, and platform regulation. The paper highlights concerns about contestability and fairness in the AI value chain, noting that major digital gatekeepers increasingly integrate AI systems into their ecosystems and control key infrastructure such as cloud services and access to data. To address these challenges, the High-Level Group calls for stronger cooperation between regulators and mandates its AI sub-group to continue work on cross-regulatory coordination in the development and deployment of AI systems by gatekeepers.
• 8 January 2026: The Commission publishes a summary and individual contributions submitted in the consultation for the first review of the Digital Markets Act. More than 450 submissions were received from a broad range of stakeholders, including SMEs, digital platforms, civil society organisations, academics, and individual citizens. Most respondents support the DMA’s objective of ensuring fair and contestable digital markets, while also highlighting implementation challenges. Many contributions call for stronger interoperability, improved data access and portability, and greater support for SMEs. Several respondents also suggest expanding the regulation’s scope, particularly with regard to artificial intelligence and cloud services. By contrast, gatekeepers raise concerns about proportionality, compliance costs, and potential impacts on user experience. The consultation results will inform the Commission’s review report on the DMA, which must be presented to the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Economic and Social Committee by May 2026.
• 27 January 2026: The Commission opens two specification proceedings under the DMA to clarify how Google must comply with certain interoperability and data-sharing obligations. The first proceeding concerns interoperability obligations related to the Android operating system. The Commission will specify how Google should ensure that third-party developers, including providers of AI services such as those competing with Gemini, can access hardware and software features on equal terms with Google’s own services. The second proceeding concerns Google’s obligation to provide third-party search engines with access to anonymised ranking, query, click and view data from Google Search on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. The Commission will examine issues such as the scope of data sharing, anonymisation methods, and whether AI chatbot providers should be eligible to access the data. The proceedings formalise the Commission’s regulatory dialogue with Google and aim to clarify compliance requirements within six months. They do not prejudge whether Google is in breach of the DMA.
• 5 February 2026: The Commission concludes that Apple Ads and Apple Maps should not be designated as core platform services under the DMA. The decision follows a notification submitted by Apple in November 2025. After reviewing the company’s arguments, the Commission determined that neither service qualifies as an important gateway between business users and end users. The assessment notes, in particular, the relatively low usage of Apple Maps in the EU and the limited scale of Apple Ads in the online advertising market. The decision does not affect Apple’s existing designation as a gatekeeper for other core platform services under the DMA.