BRUSSELS: Europe’s antitrust commissioner said on Friday that draft rules aimed at limiting the influence of corporations like Facebook and Alphabet unit Google should apply to more than just the top five digital giants (Jul 3). The proposed laws, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), are Europe’s means of ensuring that US internet corporations treat rivals and users equally after a number of antitrust probes failed to do so.
The proposal of European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager targets companies with annual European turnover of more than 6.5 billion euros (US$7.7 billion) in the previous three years or a market value of more than 65 billion euros in the previous financial year, and which provide a core platform service in at least three EU countries. This would most certainly have an influence on around ten major corporations. However, Andreas Schwab, a member of the European Parliament, wants to raise the income barrier to ten billion euros and the market value to at least one hundred billion, thus singling out Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. “The DMA is about organizations with gatekeeping power and the responsibilities that come with such status. What we’ve been attempting to articulate are the various characteristics that characterize that type of market power. It’s not about a lengthy or short list of corporations “In an interview with Reuters, Vestager stated. “It’s all about having a market presence and the power that comes with it. And I think it’s very normal to have these discussions… But it’s critical to me that this is what it’s all about “Vestager stated the following.
She also stated she was ready to granting some enforcement powers for the DMA to the French and German national watchdogs, as well as their counterparts in other European Union countries, as provided as they all sang from the same hymn sheet.
“We want a unified European set of rules. To avoid fragmentation, we’ve put forward this proposition “Vestager stated the following. Before the DMA can become legislation, it must be worked out with EU countries and legislators./n
