Since December 2020, the European Commission has been working on a regulation for digital markets – called DMA, or the Digital Markets Act. The aim of this regulation is to contribute to an open and fairer platform economy and to prevent behavior that is harmful to competition and consumers. It is especially the largest companies, referred to as “gatekeepers”, that will have to meet new requirements when the regulation enters into force.
According to The Wall Street Journal, this is imminent – the legislation may be finalized between now and May and could take effect as early as spring 2023.
Who are the gatekeepers? By “gatekeepers”, the EU means large companies that connect end users with other companies. More specifically, companies that operate in at least three EU countries, and that are valued above a certain threshold, that have a turnover above a certain threshold and that have a minimum of associated users and companies.
The initial proposal involved a company value of over 65 billion euros, an annual turnover of at least 6.5 billion euros, at least 45 million active users within a month, and at least 10,000 affiliated companies, but the amount thresholds have later been adjusted to 80 and 8 billion euros.
Read more: gigadgets
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