WASHINGTON—Following the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) decisions specifying Apple’s interoperability requirements and preliminary findings that Google failed to comply with the DMA’s self-preferencing and anti-steering obligations, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Joseph V. Coniglio, director of antitrust and innovation:
Rather than apply the DMA in a reasonable, light-touch way that is consistent with its broader competition policy of protecting as efficient competitors, today’s actions confirm that the European Commission will enforce the DMA as a form of de facto public utility regulation with little regard for consumers or innovation.
As ITIF has explained, the Commission’s various measures forcing Apple to put third-party connected device rivals in the same position as its own products will impose unreasonable compliance burdens on Apple, reduce consumer privacy and security, and chill innovation by Apple and its competitors.
Moreover, by doubling down on its scrutiny of Google in areas like self-preferencing, the Commission appears to be not just insufficiently crediting the extensive efforts the company has made to make Google Search compliant, but overlooking the harmful effects that have already materialized for users, hotels, and other stakeholders as a result of the DMA.
The Commission’s heavy-handed approach to DMA enforcement will not go unnoticed by the Trump administration, which has expressly stated that it will scrutinize the regulation as a form of unfair exploitation of American innovation.
In keeping with the unshakeable nature of the transatlantic alliance and the critical importance of U.S.-EU techno-economic cooperation to counter the challenges posed by China, it is imperative that the Commission adopt a better approach to competition enforcement in European digital markets.
Contact: Sydney Mack, [email protected]
