Digital Markets Act (DMA) — Regulation (EU) 2022/1925

The Digital Markets Act (DMA), Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, is a landmark EU regulatory framework that constrains the market power of large digital platforms — designated as gatekeepers — to ensure fair and contestable digital markets through ex-ante behavioural rules for dominant platform operators.

The DMA establishes objective criteria for identifying gatekeepers: companies with annual EU turnover of at least EUR 7.5 billion or a market capitalisation of EUR 75 billion, operating a core platform service with at least 45 million monthly end users and 10,000 business users in the EU. On 6 September 2023, the European Commission designated six gatekeepers for the first time: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft, covering 22 core platform services in total.

The regulation prohibits certain unfair practices such as self-preferencing, restricting developers from steering users to alternative channels, and impermissible cross-service combination of personal data. Non-compliance can result in fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover, rising to 20% for repeated infringements.

In June 2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the regulation of digital platforms. On 15 December 2020, the Commission published the Digital Markets Act proposal as part of its Digital Services Package, alongside the Digital Services Act.

The European Parliament approved its version in December 2021. On 25 March 2022, Parliament and Council reached a political agreement. Parliament formally adopted the DMA on 5 July 2022, followed by the Council on 18 July 2022. The regulation was signed on 14 September 2022 and published in the Official Journal on 12 October 2022. It entered into force on 1 November 2022 and became fully applicable on 2 May 2023.

On 6 September 2023, the Commission designated six gatekeepers for the first time — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft — operating 22 core platform services in total. On 13 May 2024, Booking.com was designated as the seventh gatekeeper (compliance deadline 13 November 2024). On 23 April 2025, the Commission imposed its first DMA fines: EUR 500 million on Apple for breaching the anti-steering obligations (Art. 5(4)) and EUR 200 million on Meta over its pay-or-consent advertising model (Art. 5(2)).

The DMA applies to undertakings designated as gatekeepers that operate core platform services in the EU:

• Core platform services: Online intermediation services (app stores, marketplaces), search engines, social networking services, video-sharing platforms, messaging services, operating systems, web browsers, virtual assistants, cloud computing services, and online advertising services.
• Gatekeepers (as of 2024): Alphabet (Google Search, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, YouTube, Google Ads), Amazon (Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Ads), Apple (iOS, App Store, Safari), ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Meta Marketplace, Meta Ads), Microsoft (Windows, LinkedIn), Booking (Booking.com).
• Business users: Companies and developers that rely on gatekeepers' core platform services to reach end users benefit directly from the fairness obligations.
• End users: EU citizens and consumers using core platform services gain greater choice and control over their data.
• Extraterritorial reach: The DMA applies to all gatekeepers regardless of establishment, provided their services are offered to users in the EU.

• Prohibition of self-preferencing (Art. 6(5)): Gatekeepers must not rank their own services or products more favourably than those of third parties.
• Data portability and interoperability (Art. 6(9), 7): End users must be able to port their data in real time; messaging services must provide interoperability with third-party providers.
• Ban on cross-service data combination (Art. 5(2)): Personal data from different services must not be combined without explicit consent from the end user.
• Freedom to choose app stores and sideloading (Art. 6(4)): Gatekeepers must allow the installation of apps from third-party sources and alternative app stores.
• Steering freedom for developers (Art. 5(4)): Business users must be free to direct their customers to alternative offers and payment methods outside the gatekeeper's platform.
• Transparency in online advertising (Art. 5(9), (10)): Gatekeepers must provide advertisers and publishers with daily information on prices, fees, and performance metrics of their advertising services.
• Compliance reporting (Art. 11): Gatekeepers must submit a detailed compliance report within six months of designation and update it regularly.

On 13 May 2024, the Commission designated Booking.com as a gatekeeper (compliance deadline 13 November 2024). This expansion beyond the original six gatekeepers is missing.

On 23 April 2025, the Commission imposed the first DMA fines: EUR 500 million on Apple (anti-steering, Art. 5(4)) and EUR 200 million on Meta (pay-or-consent advertising model, Art. 5(2)). These first enforcement decisions are missing.

History: 22.04.→23.04.2025 (fine), 19.07.→18.07.2022 (Council)