Faced with the domination of the major platforms and the online distribution of illegal content and products, the Commission has proposed the adoption of two texts: the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). The scope of these texts includes the cloud sector. The DMA regulation came into force on 2 May 2023.
Since 7 March 2024, platforms that qualify as access controllers must comply with the new obligations.
The DMA is designed to combat the abuse of a dominant position by the major platforms known to the general public. In particular, it provides a framework for essential platform services, including cloud services, which are referred to as gatekeepers.
| THE PILLARS | WHAT IMPACT? |
|---|---|
| Gatekeepers" qualification | The criteria are cumulative : A strong economic position at least €7.5 billion in sales in the European Economic Area or a market capitalisation/market value of at least €75 billion, with operations in at least three Member States. Control of an "essential platform service used by at least 45 million Europeans per month and at least 10,000 professionals per year in the EU. A solid and sustainable market position: it must have exceeded the above thresholds during the previous three years |
| Ex ante regulation: towards the construction of a competitive market | Targeted advertising : prohibition on processing, combining or cross-referencing users' personal data without their consent Commercial freedom : obligation to authorise companies to promote their offers to their own customers at prices different from those offered by online intermediation services. Fair treatment : a ban on access controllers discriminating against professional users when they are vertical competitors, and on using their own non-public data Self-preference : ban on access controllers discriminating by giving preferential treatment to their products and services in search histories. |
| Penalties | Maximum 10% of the company's total worldwide annual turnover or up to a maximum of 20% in the event of repeated infringements. On-call duty up to a maximum of 5% of average daily turnover. In the event of systematic breaches of the obligations under the DMA, the Commission may impose additional corrective measures. |
The DMA responds to a crucial challenge: re-establishing a level playing field within the digital economy. For cloud service providers, it is an opportunity to build an open environment, where technological choices are no longer restricted by the practices of the most powerful players. Better regulation of gatekeepers also means creating the conditions for the emergence of a sovereign, innovative and competitive cloud.
A list published by the Commission on 06 September 2023 names six access controllers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft.