EU will force big tech companies to change their 'behavior': competition chief

Margrethe Vestager said in an interview with AFP that although full compliance with the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA) cannot be expected anytime soon, the city of Brussels would be willing to take tougher measures if necessary. Stated.

“If you look at our history, we've kind of relied on using the tools that we have,” Vestager said.

DMA forces six “gatekeeper” companies – Google's Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok's parent company ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft – to follow a list of “do's” and “don'ts” starting Thursday do.

European users should see a number of changes, including an on-device selection screen to give them more choice in web browsers and search engines.

“What the gatekeepers need here…is to change their behavior,” Vestager, who is also the commission's executive vice president, told AFP from his sunny 12th-floor office in Brussels.

The new law gives the European Commission, the EU's powerful antitrust regulator, the power to impose heavier fines, and the city of Brussels can also break up companies.

“In some companies, we will see some degree of compliance, or even complete compliance. But there will also be cases of non-compliance,” Vestager acknowledged.

The competition commissioner pointed to a series of cases pursued against technology companies since 2014 to prove her claim that Brussels means business.

Most recently, EU executives on Monday fined Apple 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for preventing users from accessing alternative music streaming subscriptions.

But she said, “We're not in this to break up a company, we're not in this to give you big fines. We're not in this to drive compliance. I'm here for this.''

Vestager said Brussels has at its disposal not only the new law but also all the antitrust laws used in previous individual cases against companies.

“So even if the DMA is unable to crack down on illegal activity, we have all the tools at our disposal if we become more creative with illegal activities,” she stressed.

Vestager said the new rules are ultimately about giving users more choice.

As all eyes turn to what happens after Thursday, she said one of the big questions is how the rules will affect app stores.

Apple said customers will be able to download rival app stores, but some app developers argue the changes are too complicated to actually work.

Apple has been one of the most vocal critics of the DMA, and has also challenged legal aspects of the law. ByteDance and Meta are also suing the EU.

Vestager did not comment on Apple's controversial changes or challenges.

“The court will make a decision, and that will also guide our actions in the future.”

Beyond the DMA, the Commission is casting a wide net across the digital landscape.

Also on the horizon is last month's announcement that Microsoft partnered with French startup Mistral AI in a €15 million investment.

The commission said it would investigate the agreement as part of its investigation into agreements between major digital market participants and generative AI developers.

Microsoft has poured billions of dollars into US-based OpenAI, best known for ChatGPT, and the city of Brussels is currently investigating whether it was a sham merger.

Vestager did not comment on the investigation, but seemed upbeat about competitive concerns about the Microsoft-Mistral partnership.

“It’s much, much smaller” than Microsoft and OpenAI, she said.

“Of course, it's important to be cautious… but I think the risk of competition concerns arising is much lower in this situation.”

Vestager is expected to leave the role after the European elections in June, but is not expected to take any next steps.

“The weird thing is, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. “It's no surprise that our work in Europe is not done. It's a great place and there's still a lot of work to do.”