The EU has a “constitutional obligation” to defend its digital rules – including the big tech-focused Digital Markets Act (DMA) – Competition Commissioner and EVP Teresa Ribera said at a conference on Tuesday.
“We have the right and the obligation – I could say the constitutional obligation under the European treaties – to defend a well-functioning market and a level playing field in our continent,” she said.
Ribera’s remarks come as the EU continues to face sharp criticism from US tech giants like Apple, Google and Meta and the US administration itself for enforcing its market contestability rulebook on US platforms.
The Trump administration has continued stepping up its hostile rhetoric against the bloc’s digital rulebook – most recently threatening to impose penalties on European companies operating in the US if the EU continues to enforce its rules against American firms.
Large US tech companies designated as “gatekeepers” under the DMA have also intensified their own criticism of a European law that some local lawmakers hoped would force them to change their business models.
Most recently, Apple asked the Commission to repeal the DMA – branding it “not fit for purpose”.
While acknowledging the “right” of gatekeepers to challenge enforcement in court, Ribera stressed the EU’s “obligation” to “effectively” enforce the DMA, adding that gatekeepers were designated under the rulebook “after years of work in a very participatory and open manner”.
“We have no doubt about the importance of showing that we are here to ensure the enforcement of the law,” she also said.
Both Apple and Meta have said they will appeal EU fines imposed on them in 2025 for breaching DMA obligations.
(nl)