Yesterday, 1st November 2022, the EU law on digital markets came into force. The new regulation puts an end to the unfair practices of companies operating as "gatekeepers" in the economy of online platforms.
The law on digital markets defines situations where a large online platform is a "gatekeeper". These are digital platforms that act as an important access point between commercial users and consumers and enjoy a position from which they’re able to dictate the rules and create a bottleneck in the digital economy. To address these problems, the Digital Markets Act defines a set of obligations for gatekeepers, with the prohibition of certain behaviours.
Companies operating one or more of the so-called "basic platform services" listed in the Digital Markets Act are designated as gatekeepers if they meet the requirements described below. The services are online brokerage services such as software application stores, online search engines, social network services, some messaging services, platform services for video sharing, virtual assistants, web browsers, cloud computing services, operating systems, online markets and advertising services.
There are three main criteria to consider if a company falls within the scope of the Digital Markets Act.
- An impact on the internal market: when the company achieves a certain annual turnover in the European Economic Area (EEA) and provides a basic platform service in at least three Member States of the Union;
- monitoring of important access to final consumers for commercial users: where the company provides a basic platform service to at least 45 million monthly active end-users established or located in the Union and at least 10 000 annual active commercial users established in the Union;
- a consolidated and lasting position: if the company has fulfilled the second criterion in each of the last three years.
The Digital Markets Act establishes a list of obligations and prohibitions that gatekeepers will have to comply with in their daily operations to ensure fair and open digital markets. This improves the opportunities for companies to compete with markets and compete with gatekeepers based on the merits of their products and services, by expanding the space for innovation.