Parliamentarians and European Union (EU) countries could agree on rules aimed at curbing the power of US tech giants in April, with sticking points expected to be resolved in the coming weeks, a lawmaker said. leading the conversations.
Known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the regulation proposed just over a year ago by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager sets out a list of do’s and don’ts for gatekeepers of the network -companies that control data and access to their platforms- reinforced with fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
The DMA is in effect targeting Apple, Google, the Alphabet unit, Facebook parent Meta, Amazon and Microsoft. It needs the approval of EU parliamentarians and EU countries before becoming law.
Lawmaker Andreas Schwab, who has already held two meetings with EU countries on the issue and has scheduled a third for March 1, said he is optimistic about reaching an agreement in what would be record time for a key piece of legislation. “We still want to wrap it up in late March, early April,” he said.
However, he said both sides disagree on the role of the European Commission, as lawmakers insist that the EU executive be the sole executor and have veto power, while the bloc’s countries want the bodies national supervisory bodies have more say and that the Commission has no veto power.
Schwab said members of parliament would not budge on a proposal that would allow regulators to impose structural remedies such as dissolving any tech giant that breaks the rules, though EU countries are not in favor of this.
However, there is room for compromise, he said, with all parties willing to adopt rules that could set a global standard.
Source: Gestion
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