16th November
Digital Markets Act: Rules for Digital Gatekeepers to Ensure Open Markets
On 1 November 2022, the EU Digital Markets Act (the “DMA” or the “Regulation”) entered into force by direct effect and its rules will start to apply on 2 May 2023.
The DMA was proposed by the Commission in December 2020 and agreed to by the European Parliament and the Council in March 2022. This Regulation seeks to put an end to unfair practices by companies that act as gatekeepers in the online platform economy.
The DMA defines a gatekeeper as “an undertaking providing core platform services, designated pursuant to Article 3” of the Regulation.
Core platform services, in turn, mean any of the following:
- online intermediation services;
- online search engines;
- online social networking services;
- video-sharing platform services;
- number-independent interpersonal communications services;
- operating systems;
- web browsers;
- virtual assistants;
- cloud computing services;
- online advertising services, including any advertising networks, advertising exchanges and any other advertising intermediation services, provided by an undertaking that provides any of the core platform services listed in points (a) to (i);
More information can be found by accessing the Press Release, the Questions & Answers page, and a summary of the MDA. The Regulation can also be accessed here.
