The European Commission announced this Monday that it has opened an in-depth investigation against the Apple company by concluding in a preliminary analysis that the American technology giant’s digital store does not comply with the European Union Digital Markets Law.

In parallel, Brussels has also opened “a new non-compliance procedure against Apple” – the third in total – because it suspects that “its new contractual requirements for third-party application developers and application stores” also fail to comply with Community regulations, the European Commission said in a statement.

In case of infringement, the Commission may impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s total worldwide turnover and up to 20% in case of repeat offenses. “Without prejudice to Apple’s right of defense, we are determined to use the clear and effective tools of the Digital Markets Act to finally open up real opportunities for innovators and consumers,” said Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.

The first investigation, extended, continues a preliminary file initiated by the Community Executive on March 25 and refers to the rules of the digital store of the apple firm, ‘App Store’. Brussels believes that the company’s rules “prevent application developers freely direct consumers to alternative channels for offers and content”.

European legislation stipulates that those who distribute their applications through the ‘App Store’ must be able, free of charge, to inform their customers about “alternative cheaper purchasing possibilities, direct them to those offers and allow them to make purchases.” But the Commission understands that none of the three sets of business terms that govern the relationship between Apple and developers allows this.

In “most commercial terms” for developers, Apple only allows developers to redirect customers through a link to a web page (‘link-out’) to conclude the contract, in a process that is subject to several restrictions “imposed by Apple”, explains the Commission. Those restrictions prevent developers from “communicating, promoting offers and concluding contracts through the distribution channel of their choice.”

Apple also charges them a fee for each purchase of digital goods or services that a user carries out within seven days after using a ‘link-out’ from the application, a practice that the Community Executive believes goes “beyond what is strictly necessary” to receive a remuneration that the digital giant does have the right to charge for facilitating the acquisition of a new customer.

The company can now examine the documents and exercise its right of defense, responding in writing to Brussels. Based on these responses, the Commission could adopt a “decision for non-compliance within 12 months from the opening of proceedings on March 25, 2024”, indicated the institution.

In addition, Brussels has launched a new investigation into Apple for not respecting community digital regulations regarding the contractual terms it offers to developers and, in particular, regarding the provision of alternative app stores or the possibility of offering an application through an alternative distribution channel.

In particular, the Commission is interested in Apple’s ‘Core Technology Fee’, a system under which developers of third-party app stores and third-party applications must pay a fee of 0.50 euros per installed application and will investigate the fee structure imposed. Brussels will also analyze Apple’s process for downloading and installing alternative app stores or apps on its iPhone phones.

Simultaneously, the Executive will continue to develop the preliminary investigation underway to clarify whether the controls and reviews established by Apple to validate alternative applications and application stores to be loaded laterally respect the Digital Markets Law that giants such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon must comply with. , Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook) and Microsoft.

Brussels too is conducting preliminary investigations of Alphabet on Google Play and Meta, and is collecting information on Amazon. In case of violation, in addition to the aforementioned fines, Brussels can also force the firm in question “to sell a business or parts of it, or prohibit the guardian from acquiring additional services related to the systematic non-compliance.”