On July 18, 2022, the long-awaited Digital Markets Act (DMA) received the final approval of the EU’s co-legislators. The DMA will impose stringent far-reaching obligations on the largest digital platforms: the “gatekeepers.” The regulation will give the European Commission (EC) significant new enforcement powers, including the ability to impose severe fines and remedies in case of non-compliance.

The DMA will profoundly change the way in which big tech platforms operate in the EU. It will capture the largest tech companies and potentially 15-20 other platforms such as Alibaba and Booking.com. It will also create complications for non-gatekeepers, as the rules will impact how data can be shared with a gatekeeper’s commercial partners.
Continue Reading D(MA)-Day: Formal Adoption of the EU Digital Markets Act

In anticipation of its new powers to regulate the largest digital platforms, the EU is planning to open a San Francisco base to engage with these companies, which are based mostly in Silicon Valley and the broader Bay Area. The EU’s plans to open its first representative office on Californian soil reflects the EU’s intent to remain at the forefront of digital regulation initiatives worldwide.
Continue Reading EU to Open San Francisco Office to Advance Its Digital Regulation Agenda

The European Union (EU) will soon be handed sweeping new rules to regulate the conduct of the largest digital platforms with the long-awaited Digital Markets Act (DMA). Following 15 months of intense negotiations on amendments to the original Proposal, the presidents of the main EU institutions (the Parliament, Council, and Commission) reached a political agreement on the final text of the DMA on March 24, 2022. The final vote is planned for July 2022, with the rules expected to come into effect in October 2022. It is expected that designated gatekeepers will need to comply by early 2024.
Continue Reading EU Adopts New Rules to Significantly Limit the Power of Tech Platforms

The EU Parliament and the EU Council recently adopted their respective versions of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), which intend to create new antitrust-related (DMA) and regulatory (DSA) rules applicable to digital platforms.1

The adoption of the draft amendments by the EU Parliament and the EU Council constitutes a critical step towards final adoption of these laws. Now, the EU Commission (EC), Parliament, and Council are undergoing negotiations (so-called “trilogues“) to agree on a final version of the laws. The institutions could reach an agreement on the DMA and the DSA within the coming months, but it may take some time before it is enacted.
Continue Reading EU Parliament and Council Take Next Steps to Advance Major New Rules for Digital Platforms