DMA AI IKK

By: Rupprecht Podszun (D’Kart)

The Digital Markets Act flexes its muscles: The European Commission has initiated its first investigations for non-compliance against Apple, Alphabet, and Meta. Rupprecht Podszun provides insights into the initial 20 days of DMA action. He also reflects on the recent Bundeskartellamt’s Berlin IKK conference and shares some updates from his Chair.

If the pace of DMA enforcement continues at this rate, I might consider shifting my focus to a more tranquil field, perhaps energy law.

On March 1, it was revealed that Booking.com, X, and ByteDance (including its ad service) could potentially be classified as new gatekeepers. The Commission has 45 working days to conduct its assessment. On March 6, the Commission issued its inaugural DMA Annual Report. On March 7, the existing gatekeepers (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance for TikTok, Meta, and Microsoft) were required to submit their compliance and profiling reports. Summaries were made public, marking the commencement of their obligations. Since then, I’ve been monitoring the maneuvers of Apple and others as they navigate their newfound responsibilities. On March 11, Margrethe Vestager was honored with induction into the Hall of Fame of the Technology Festival SXSW in the United States (congratulations!), remarking, “we have not paid enough attention to the risks associated with digital services.” On March 18, the Commission initiated DMA workshops. During these sessions, stakeholders had the opportunity to question gatekeeper representatives following their presentations on compliance. To give you a taste – Albrecht von Sonntag, Managing Director of Idealo, a comparison shopping portal, posed a candid question to Google’s Oliver Bethell: “Oli, my honest question to you now is: What is your objective? Prompting the Commission to open a non-compliance investigation? Or would you prefer each of us to take you to our national courts? After unprecedented antitrust fines and billion-Euro-damage claims, are you seeking a new record: the monopolist being sued by the most companies?”

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