Author: Kevin Coates

[Note this is just a reference sheet of the regulated services and the obligations.] Article 2(2)(a)  online intermediation services; Article 2(2)(b)  online search engines; Article 2(2)(c)  online social networking services; Article 2(2)(d)  video-sharing platform services; Article 2(2)(e)  number-independent interpersonal communication services; Article 2(2)(f)  operating systems; Article 2(2)(g)  cloud computing services; Article 5(a): Combining Data Article 5(b): MFN Article 5(c): Off-platform promotion and contracting Article 5(d): Contacting Authorities Article 5(e): Tying of ID services Article 5(f): Tying of other core platform services Article 5(g): Pricing information for advertisers and publishers Article 6(1)(a): Self-preferencing / data Article 6(1)(b): Uninstallation Article 6(1)(c): Installation of apps / stores Article 6(1)(d): Self-prefencing / ranking Article 6(1)(e): Technical restrictions on switching Article 6(1)(f): Interoperability of ancillary […]

“I would draw your attention to the curious treatment of Article 25 in the recitals.” “But the recitals say nothing about Article 25.” “That is the curious treatment.” (With apologies to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.) Remedies for breaches of the DMA In the European Commission’s draft DMA, Article 25 covers the consequences for a breach of the regulation. If a gatekeeper has been found in breach of its obligations under Articles 5 or 6, this article gives the Commission power to issue a cease and desist order: the Commission shall order the gatekeeper to cease and desist with the non-compliance within an appropriate deadline and to provide explanations on how it plans to comply with the decision. Article 26 provides […]

As with all EU legislation, you need to read the DMA’s articles alongside the recitals which often provide useful context. And as with all EU legislation, that can lead to a lot of scrolling up and down when you’re trying to understand what’s going on. So, attached, a PDF of the text of the draft DMA, with the recitals interleaved with the relevant articles. I’ve also included most of the references to other EU laws (particularly relevant to the definitions of services). Obviously this requires a degree of interpretation as to which recital(s) relate to which article(s), so feel free to send me any comments / corrections. Download

The EU published its proposal for a Digital Market Act in December. Articles 5 and 6 of the draft contain various obligations to be imposed on gatekeepers. In this table, I take the obligations under Articles 5 and 6 of the draft DMA and: I provide a short description of the obligation for context (my own, not taken from the DMA); I then classify the obligation in terms of its intended impact: is it focused on promoting competition in the core service, or in protecting competition in related – ancillary – services, or both? For most articles this is relatively clear, but some articles do not fit easily into this distinction (see below). I give an indication of who the obligation […]