Influence on Trump

Brussels reviews proceedings against US tech companies

With the DMA, the EU wants to limit the market power of so-called gatekeepers of the Internet - much to their chagrin.(Bild: AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)

The European Commission apparently wants to reassess its investigations against US tech giants such as Apple, Meta and Alphabet. The background to this is that the companies are urging future US President Donald Trump to intervene against what they see as overzealous action by the EU.

This was reported by the Financial Times, citing insiders. The review could therefore lead to Brussels reducing or changing the scope of the investigations.

According to the report, the review will cover all cases initiated under the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) since March 2024. All decisions and potential fines would be suspended during the review, but technical work on the cases would continue.

Gatekeeper
With the DMA, the EU wants to limit the market power of so-called gatekeepers of the internet. It applies to five US companies - Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent Meta and Microsoft - as well as the Netherlands-based booking platform Booking.com and the Chinese company Bytedance, which is behind TikTok.

A company can be classified as a gatekeeper if it is "economically strong, has a significant impact on the European market and is active in several EU countries". If the rules are breached, companies face fines in the billions. The law provides for payments of up to ten percent of annual global turnover.