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The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, an EU law setting rules for designated digital-platform gatekeepers. It aims to make digital markets fairer and more contestable. Its duties apply to specific services named in a European Commission designation—not automatically to every service offered by a large technology company.
What does the Digital Markets Act mean?
The DMA is a regulation adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, not a voluntary industry code. Its purpose is to establish harmonised EU rules for fair and contestable digital markets where gatekeepers are present, for the benefit of business users and end users.
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The law works alongside competition rules rather than replacing them. It does not displace Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, specified national competition rules, or EU and national merger control.
Which services and users does the DMA cover?
The law applies to covered core platform services that a designated gatekeeper provides or offers to business users established in the EU or end users established or located there. The provider’s own place of establishment or residence does not determine whether the law applies.
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Article 2 identifies these core platform service categories:
- 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 advertising networks, exchanges and other advertising intermediation, when provided by an undertaking that provides one of the listed services
The Regulation excludes specified electronic communications networks and services, while retaining an exception for number-independent interpersonal communications services. It also preserves certain national regulatory powers concerning interpersonal communications services.
What is a gatekeeper under the DMA?
Article 2 defines a gatekeeper as “an undertaking providing core platform services, designated pursuant to Article 3.” In practical terms, a company must meet a legal test and the Commission must designate it in relation to particular core platform services. Being large or well-known does not, by itself, make every service it offers a gatekeeper service.
The three legal criteria
Under Article 3, the Commission assesses whether an undertaking:
- Has a significant impact on the EU internal market.
- Provides a core platform service that is an important gateway for business users to reach end users.
- Has an entrenched and durable position in its operations, or is foreseeably likely to have one.
Quantitative thresholds that create presumptions
The Regulation sets quantitative thresholds that can establish presumptions for parts of the designation test. They are statutory criteria, not a general definition of a large technology company.
| Measure | Threshold in the Regulation |
|---|---|
| EU turnover | At least €7.5 billion in each of the previous three financial years |
| Market capitalisation or equivalent fair market value | Average of at least €75 billion in the previous financial year |
| Presence across the EU | The undertaking provides the same core platform service in at least three Member States |
| End users | At least 45 million monthly active end users established or located in the EU |
| Business users | At least 10,000 yearly active business users established in the EU |
| Position duration | The Regulation also sets a position-duration threshold as part of the presumptions |
The Commission can investigate a provider that meets the qualitative criteria even when it does not meet all the quantitative thresholds. Its designation decision identifies the core platform services that individually qualify as important gateways.
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That service-by-service approach matters. In one assessment, the Commission declined to designate Microsoft for Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising because those services did not meet the important-gateway criterion. That decision illustrates how the test is applied; it is not a permanent conclusion about those services or a statement about all of the company’s services.
What does the DMA require gatekeepers to do?
The Regulation combines duties and prohibitions. The particular rule and how it applies depend on the provision and the designated service. Examples in the Commission’s DMA summary include:
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- Allowing certain third-party interoperability.
- Giving business users access to data they generate through the platform.
- Providing advertisers and publishers with tools and information for independent verification of advertisements.
- Allowing business users to promote offers and contract with customers outside the platform.
- Prohibiting certain advantages in the ranking of a gatekeeper’s own services.
- Restricting certain limitations on alternative app payment channels.
- Prohibiting the processing or combination of personal data in specified circumstances without the required consent.
These examples describe the law’s scope, not a claim that every duty applies identically to every designated service. The relevant DMA provisions and the Commission’s service-specific decision determine the obligations in a particular case.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who enforces the DMA, and what are the penalties?
The European Commission is the DMA’s sole enforcer. The Commission’s summary states that a gatekeeper must comply within six months after a core platform service is listed in the designation decision.
The stated maximum fine is 10% of a company’s total worldwide turnover, potentially rising to 20% for repeat offences. These are statutory ceilings, not predictions of the penalty in an individual case.
How to tell whether a company or service is covered
To assess coverage, check the legal designation rather than relying on a company-wide label:
- Check whether the service falls into one of Article 2’s core platform service categories.
- Consider whether the undertaking meets the three Article 3 criteria and the applicable quantitative presumptions.
- Look for the Commission designation decision and identify the specific services it lists.
- For a particular obligation, check the relevant DMA provision and how it applies to that service.
The European Commission’s designation decisions are the practical reference for identifying which services are listed. A company’s size alone does not answer that question.
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