Dutch competition agency launches two probes under EU Digital Markets Act 

By Cynthia Kroet & Peggy Corlin

The Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority (ACM), nan watchdog successful complaint of checking businesses’ compliance pinch nan Digital Markets Act (DMA), began 2 probes to cheque “whether large world tech companies” comply pinch nan EU title rules. 

“ACM coordinates these investigations pinch nan European Commission,” it said successful its scheme for 2025, published earlier this week, adding that nan EU executive tin usage nan probes to “oblige tech companies to set their behaviour and to enforce fines.”

The ACM didn't disclose further specifications astir nan companies and nan estimated clip of nan investigation.

Since 10 March, nan regulator has been empowered to enforce DMA compliance of companies successful nan Netherlands.

A Commission spokesperson confirmed to Euronews that nationalist agencies whitethorn analyse cases falling nether nan DMA, but they could not “take immoderate enforcement decision”, adding: “They would request to study to nan Commission connected nan findings of their investigation and nan due follow-up would beryllium astatine nan discretion of nan Commission.”

The DMA – which intends to modulate nan gatekeeper powerfulness of nan largest integer companies – became applicable successful May 2023, and successful September that twelvemonth nan EU executive designated six gatekeepers – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft. Booking.com was added successful 2024.

On 23 April, nan Commission fined Apple and Meta respectively €500 cardinal and €200 cardinal for not complying pinch nan caller EU rulebook. 

It recovered that Apple was preventing developers from steering consumers extracurricular its ecosystem to replacement channels for offers and contented and that Meta’s “pays aliases consent” advertizing exemplary forced users done a binary prime to consent to springiness their individual information to target advertizing unless they salary a subscription.

The ACM is besides nan Netherlands’ enforcer of nan Digital Services Act (DSA): rules that purpose to protect consumers against forbidden contented online. 

Martijn Snoep, nan caput of nan ACM, told Euronews successful an interview in December that it had listed respective privilege areas for DSA enforcement action, and that it keeps an oculus connected hosting providers, hinting astatine imaginable investigations successful that area too.