The European Commission believes that the App Store does not comply with the EU’s new competition rules – which the Apple brand denies. And so the EU paved the way for a huge fine this Monday v. Apple.
“App Store Rules are being violated Digital Markets Regulation (DMA) because they prevent app developers from directing consumers to alternative distribution channels for offers and content,” Brussels said in a “preliminary opinion.”
Apple has built its success on a closed ecosystem around the popular iPhone and iPad, where it controls all parameters, a philosophy that is in direct conflict with European competition rules. The California group defends itself by citing security requirements and increased convenience for its users.
A decisive step after the opening of the investigation on March 25
“In recent months, Apple has made a number of changes to comply with the requirements of the DMA (…) We are confident that our offerings comply with European law,” the company responded on Monday.
“All developers active in the EU in the AppStore have access to the features we provide, including the ability to direct users to the Web (site) to make a purchase,” he said.
The opinion published this Monday is the first under the new competition rules introduced by the DMA, which became mandatory at the beginning of March. This is an important step after the opening of the investigation on March 25.
Apple is now able to exercise its defense rights by gaining access to the file and will be able to respond in writing to the preliminary findings. If these are confirmed, the Commission will take a final decision on non-compliance by the end of March 2025.
Previous Spotify
Apple could then be fined up to 10% of its global turnover, or more than 30 billion euros for last year’s sales.
Brussels has also given itself the power to take down criminals as a weapon of deterrence and as a last resort.
According to the DMA, “Companies that distribute their applications through the Apple App Store must inform their customers of cheaper alternative purchase opportunities free of charge, direct them to these offers and allow them to make purchases,” he explained. Commission.
Brussels believes that this is not the case today, despite repeated warnings from the EU and changes made by Apple. It’s an old dispute between the American giant and the Commission, which oversees competition in the EU.
For similar reasons, the Cupertino group was fined €1.8 billion by the Commission in early March following an investigation opened in June 2020. following a complaint from music streaming platform Spotify.
Apple, which considers itself in line with this, applied to the EU court for the cancellation of this sanction arising from the antimonopoly rules already in force in the DMA.
“A Saga That Has Been Too Long”
Enabling faster and stronger action against competitive abuses by digital giants, this new regulation was introduced to protect the creation and growth of start-ups in Europe and offer more choice to consumers.
“We are determined to use the DMA’s clear and effective toolbox to quickly end this years-long saga,” said European Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton.
“Apple should have a new slogan act differently. “For too long, the technology giant has been crowding out innovative companies and depriving consumers of new opportunities.”
On March 25, the Commission launched another proceeding targeting Apple for failing to fulfill its obligation to offer users an easily accessible alternative to the Safari web browser.
Brussels was particularly concerned on Monday about fees charged to developers for each app downloaded and the difficulty of accessing the App Store from alternative app stores.
Apart from Apple, DMA applies to four other American behemoths – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft – but also to the TikTok social network owned by China’s ByteDance group, as well as the Dutch hotel reservation platform Booking.