Analysis: Consumers have greater choice with the Digital Markets Act

US tech giants like Apple and Google have little good to say about the EU's Digital Markets Acts (DMA). Users and small and medium-sized enterprises were also among the losers, according to their objections. The umbrella organization of European consumer organizations, Beuc, is now breaking a lance for the new competition rules, which have been in effect since 2024. In recent decades, according to Beuc, consumers have suffered from abusive practices by big tech companies, such as closed ecosystems (walled gardens), lock-ins to specific services, restricted access to alternatives, and higher prices. The DMA was created to address and prevent these unfair practices more effectively from the outset.

Traditional competition law has proven too slow and ineffective in fast-moving technology markets, Beuc writes in a report on the "first fruits" of the competition regulation. Antitrust proceedings often took years, and the damage had long occurred in the meantime. Digital markets have become essential for consumers' daily lives, for example, for accessing information, purchasing products, or communicating.

Eighteen months after the DMA came into force, it is still too early for a final assessment, according to the Brussels consumer advocates: Many of the designated gatekeepers still do not fully comply with the regulations. Nevertheless, concrete benefits for consumers have already emerged. One significant success, for example, is that iOS users now receive a choice screen to set their default browser. Since Apple's update 18.2 in October 2024, users can choose from a list of the most downloaded internet navigation tools. This includes competitors such as Ecosia, DuckDuckGo, Opera, and Brave. This is a significant step forward compared to the time before the DMA, when users were pushed towards the pre-installed and pre-set Safari.

Gmail no longer needed for Android

Furthermore, consumers on iOS and iPadOS devices can now also freely choose default apps for a variety of categories, according to the analysis. With update 18.4, users are able to, set third-party apps for navigation, translation, email, calls, messaging, camera, or photos as default and even remove pre-installed Apple apps. Previously, the iPhone maker's own applications or its preferred third-party apps were set as default.

In the area of contactless payments on iPhones, consumers are also no longer forced to use Apple Pay, praises Beuc. Alternative payment service providers have thus been able to introduce their services for iPhone users for the first time since the beginning of 2025. Finally, the obligation to use Gmail to create a Google account, for example for using the mobile platform Android, is also a thing of the past. Users can now use a third-party email address instead. In Germany, the Mainz Regional Court explicitly prohibited Google a few months ago on DMA grounds, from favoring its own email service Gmail when setting up an Android smartphone.

The next stages for the DMA

Despite these initial successes, Beuc sees areas where gatekeepers are suspected of violating the DMA. To ensure full compliance with the law, the association urgently calls on the EU Commission to take the enforcement of the regulations to the next level. This requires faster procedures, sufficient resources, and the formal opening of investigations into suspected cases that are still pending. The Commission should rely on a combination of dialogue and decisive sanctions to enforce rapid compliance.

Consumer advocates criticize that gatekeepers introduced incomplete or non-compliant solutions before reaching a final agreement with the Commission. This leads to frustration among users. The Brussels government institution should therefore be empowered to freeze the introduction of new compliance solutions until they have been reviewed and approved by third parties. Furthermore, gatekeepers must be obliged to test the neutrality of their solutions and make the results accessible to the Commission and third parties.

In addition, Beuc recommends adapting the DMA to new technologies. This includes examining the designation of cloud services such as iCloud and OneDrive as central platform services, as they are often pre-set on new devices and can create lock-in effects. Systems for generative AI such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, and Copilot should also be classified as such important services, possibly under the category of virtual assistants. This is to prevent gatekeepers from misusing their existing services to competitively promote their own chatbots. Finally, the association supports the examination of interoperability requirements for gatekeeper social media services to break up network effects that make it difficult for consumers to switch.

(vbr)