Designated gatekeepers must now comply with all obligations under the Digital Markets Act

The DMA aims to make digital markets in the EU more contestable and fairer. It establishes new rules for 10 defined core platform services, such as search engines, online marketplaces, app stores, online advertising and messaging, and gives new rights to European businesses and end-users.

Gatekeepers started testing measures to comply with the DMA ahead of the deadline, triggering feedback from third parties. As of today, gatekeepers are required to prove their effective compliance with the DMA and outline the measures undertaken in compliance reports. The public version of these reports is accessible on the Commission’s dedicated DMA webpage. Today, the designated gatekeepers also have to submit to the Commission an independently audited description of any techniques used for profiling consumers, along with a non-confidential version of the report.

The Commission will now carefully analyse the compliance reports and assess whether the implemented measures are effective in achieving the objectives of the relevant obligations under the DMA. The Commission’s assessment will also be based on the input of interested stakeholders, including in the context of the compliance workshops, where gatekeepers are invited to present their solutions.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: "Today, the Digital Markets Act kicks in for all the gatekeepers we have designated half-a-year ago. Our new set of rules will now make online markets more open and contestable for small, innovative businesses to also get a fair chance of making it. And as consumers we will have more affordable options online. This will deeply change how online markets work and open up the digital marketplace, for the benefit of all European players, and users."

Commissioner Thierry Breton, in charge for Internal Market, said: "Today marks a turning point for our European digital space. The DMA sets precise obligations and the possibility to sanction large online platforms should they not comply. We have been in discussions with gatekeepers for months to help them adapt. And we can already see changes happening on the market: competitors can set up alternative app stores, European users have more control over their data and are now empowered to make choices they did not have before due to default settings. Any company found to be non-compliant will face severe sanctions, including as last resort a breakup."

Press release is available here.