Some MEPs and member countries of the European Union received a letter from the American authorities at the end of the week of January 24, ” preoccupied » by the version of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Parliament, voted in December. According to Politicowhich unveiled the said document, the United States is much more in favor of the positions of the Commission and the Council.
The United States defends its companies
Digital Markets, or DMA, legislation aimed at ensuring that big digital platforms do not engage in abuse of dominance is in its final legislative stage in Brussels. The Parliament and the Council of the EU have each proposed a version inspired by the Commission’s proposal, they must now agree on a common text to adopt.
State of play of the European smartphone market
The United States has never hidden the great mistrust that this draft regulation and its sister project, the Digital Services Act, inspire in them: in December, the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, sparked controversy by criticizing the project.
The rapid progress of the European legislative process has not demobilized the American authorities, as evidenced by the eight-point text unveiled by Politico. The usual criticisms opposed to the DMA and in particular to the version of the Parliament are found there.
Among them, the native country of GAFAM regrets that ” The scope proposed by the European Parliament would exclusively target American companies, not only at the time of the implementation of the law, but also for years to come. “.
MEPs have raised the threshold beyond which a company will be considered a “Gatekeeper”, i.e. subject to the DMA, to 8 billion euros in annual turnover and a market capitalization of 80 billion euros. The United States considers this threshold to be discriminatory, as it only includes American companies.
The United States is also asking to limit the amount of fines taken under the DMA to 10% of the company’s worldwide annual turnover, as suggested by the Commission. Parliament, for its part, proposed a wider range, from 4% to 20%.
Another addition criticized by MEPs is the addition of virtual assistants, web browsers and televisions connected to the platforms taken into account by the DMA. The United States also believes that the Commission alone should be responsible for enforcing the new regulations.
One point is particularly interesting, since it directly takes up arguments put forward by Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in opposing the authorization of sideloading. This is the ability to download an application, or other, outside the App Store. A security problem says Apple, which has the utility to justify the closure of its ecosystem. The US Congress itself is considering a law to open the brand’s services to the apple.
The DMA adopted in March?
Finally, the United States hopes that Brussels will slow down the adoption of DMA. They would like the implementation of the regulation to take its time, one year, and for the “Gatekeepers” to have three months before notifying their compliance to the Commission.
Bad luck, France, in the person of Emmanuel Macron, has made the adoption of the DMA one of the main objectives of its rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. According to Politico, a bilateral meeting was requested by the US mission to the EU. Time is running out for the United States, the date of March 24 has been advanced for the adoption of the regulation.