In recent months, millions of Europeans have begun to notice seemingly small changes in the apps they use daily. Some WhatsApp users will soon be able to exchange messages with people who use other messaging services. Others, when setting up a new phone on Android or iOS, have encountered screens inviting them to choose a default browser or search engine. Those using Apple devices in Europe have found that they can now remove apps that were formerly obligatory, such as Safari, and set alternatives for browsing, messaging, or managing passwords. These changes are not isolated decisions by tech companies, but among the first visible effects of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The DMA is, together with the Digital Services Act, one of the European Union’s most relevant digital rules. In force since 2022 and applicable since May 2023, it aims to limit the market power of the major tech corporations or “gatekeepers of access,” most of them of non-EU origin, facilitate market access for smaller and emerging companies and offer better prices and services to consumers. The rule has sparked controversy, especially in the United States, where it is viewed as a risk to the operations of their digital companies, many of which are affected by the regulation.
The DMA designates as “gatekeepers” those companies that provide a core platform service (for example, messaging services or social networks) in at least three EU member states and that, in addition, exceed certain thresholds related to turnover and the number of users. Currently, seven companies meet these conditions, of which five are US-origin (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft). The other two are Booking and ByteDance (owner of TikTok, of Chinese origin).
“The DMA seeks to limit the market power of large tech corporations or «gatekeepers», most of them non-EU origin”
The gatekeepers must comply with certain obligations and prohibitions. Among them stand out the obligation of openness and interoperability of platforms to allow other complementary services or competitors to interact and integrate into the market with freedom of access, and the prohibition of favouring their own services, leaving the consumer to choose among all existing options on fair terms. The lack of compliance with the regulation can entail economic penalties such as those already applied to Apple and Meta in 2025 (of 500 million and 200 million euros, respectively).
Now, after three years of application and in a context of geopolitical instability, the European Commission has undertaken a review process of its market effects. EsadeGeo has published a policy brief that identifies the tensions arising from the regulation and offers some recommendations to strengthen it and improve its effectiveness, structured around three axes: competition, innovation and security.
The DMA’s impact on competition
The DMA introduces a novel approach by having a preventive (ex ante) nature. Therefore, the DMA applies independently of whether an anticompetitive situation or abuse of market power has been identified. This is because its objective is not to avert anticompetitive conduct, but to guarantee the “disputability” and the “fairness” of digital markets.
Although innovative, this approach poses some difficulties. The main one is that it is not possible to assess whether the regulation’s objectives are being met, given that there are no indicators allowing a quantitative and systematic measurement of “disputability” and “fairness”. This is because neither the European Commission nor the gatekeepers publish data enabling these analyses.
“It is not possible to assess whether the regulation’s objectives are being met, given that there are no indicators to measure them”
There is also a risk of divergences in the interpretation of the rule, since the courts of each Member State are competent for disputes concerning the DMA. Furthermore, and although the European Commission is the body that supervises the regulation’s implementation, the national competition authorities of each Member State have the power to investigate and monitor possible DMA infringement cases, which increases the risk of interpretive fragmentation if there are no coordination mechanisms among the different institutions.
The DMA’s impact on innovation
One of the regulation’s aims is to have more open markets to incentivize technological innovation in European companies and startups. To this end, the interoperability obligations, access to customer data and the prohibition on self-preferencing seek to facilitate that new competitors and complementary services integrate into main platforms, compete on price and features, differentiate themselves and attract new market segments. Competing would allow them to scale their size, access capital and gradually increase their capacity for innovation. The European Commission (Startup and Scaleup Scoreboard) estimated in 2025 a 13.5% increase in startup performance vs. 2020. However, the EU’s valuation of this segment remains 80% lower than the United States and 40% lower than China.
“Startups, developers and European SMEs could be the big beneficiaries of the DMA”
Nevertheless, this dynamic presents risks. The obligation to open functionalities could reduce the innovation incentives of the gatekeepers and deter capital-intensive investments or large, high-risk projects. Moreover, gatekeepers may delay new features, products or services in Europe due to the technical difficulties of regulatory compliance or the risk of releasing their intellectual property without compensation. For example, Apple has announced delays to AI-powered Siri, and Meta delayed the launch of Threads in the EU, and both companies attributed this to the DMA. Startups, developers and European SMEs could be the big beneficiaries of the DMA, but they are also absorbing the indirect costs of regulatory uncertainty and of ensuring the security of their services operating in an open system. Every time a large platform applies the rule, they must adapt to the novelty this entails.
The DMA’s impact on security, privacy and user experience
While the obligations imposed by the regulation can contribute to improving digital markets, compliance is not always easy.
On the one hand, enabling interoperability between services (for example, a message sent through WhatsApp arriving at a Signal user) entails great technical complexity and takes time. On the other hand, making this interoperability safe for the user, the integrity of their devices and their data proves even more challenging. Moreover, the DMA coexists with other European regulations, such as the Cybersecurity Regulation or the General Data Protection Regulation, whose obligations are not always compatible with the DMA and require a joint interpretation.
Interoperability is not an impossible task, but it requires time, resources and regulatory clarity. It is also not a binary condition, but gradual and adaptable depending on the context and taking into account the user’s perspective.
“The user experience becomes a central indicator to assess whether regulatory objectives translate effectively into real outcomes”
The DMA’s success should ultimately be measured not only by the degree of interoperability achieved, but also by whether users experience greater agency, transparency and control in their daily digital interactions. In this sense, user experience becomes a central indicator to evaluate whether regulatory objectives effectively translate into real outcomes for people.
The DMA in the current geopolitical context
Although the Digital Markets Act has two broad objectives (to generate greater “disputability” and “fairness”), the rule’s raison d’être cannot be understood without considering the current geopolitical context. The DMA seeks to lay the groundwork for a greater European capacity for innovation and a reduced dependence on the major US and Chinese technology ecosystems. Under this logic, the regulation is a strategic instrument to advance toward greater European technological sovereignty and to strengthen the Union’s position in the global digital economy. A recent example of this momentum is the obligation, within EU institutions, to replace foreign search engines with European search engines like Qwant (of French origin), in the name of data protection and digital sovereignty.
The DMA’s challenge, therefore, lies in adjusting the scope and application of its obligations to find a balance among all factors (competition, innovation, security, sovereignty). The EsadeGeo policy brief’s recommendations highlight the development of indicators for “disputability” and “fairness” to measure the regulation’s real impact, complementing the regulation with financing instruments that allow the scaling of innovative projects in Europe and the establishment of minimum security standards for interoperability obligations. These measures could help strengthen the DMA’s effectiveness and its contribution to European technological sovereignty.
- Develop indicators of “disputability” and “fairness”. The DMA’s application should measure real market outcomes, not just formal compliance. Indicators such as new entries in alternative platform services, changes of provider or API access would help evaluate its actual impact.
- Reduce the DMA review cycle from three years to two. A two-year cycle would allow earlier correction of unintended effects on competition, innovation or competitiveness.
- Formalize a dialogue channel between regulators and gatekeepers. Regular dialogue between the Commission and gatekeepers would help detect implementation problems earlier. It could also reduce litigation, increase transparency and improve the practical enforcement of the DMA.
- Calibrate the DMA obligations according to innovation risk and sector maturity. Not all digital services present the same risks or the same level of maturity. Obligations should be stricter in dominated markets and more flexible in emerging technologies.
- Protect intellectual property rights within interoperability obligations. A balanced framework should distinguish between open functional layers and elements essential protected by intellectual property.
- Introduce innovation spaces to experiment with DMA compliance. The Commission could create voluntary experimental environments to test DMA-compliant solutions.
- Align the DMA with the EU’s economic policy and financial instruments is a necessary condition to align market actors’ strategies and leverage the regulation’s effects.
- Set minimum security standards as a condition for interoperability. Interoperability should not be unconditional, but depend on meeting technical safety requirements.
- Define and apply effective interoperability, not just formal. The Commission should evaluate it with indicators of its fluency, ease of switching or function equivalence.
- Resolve regulatory incoherence around consent and data governance. Differences between the DMA, the GDPR and the Digital Services Regulation on consent create legal uncertainty. Clear priority rules and greater coordination among authorities would enable a more coherent application.
Natalie Foster
I’m a political writer focused on making complex issues clear, accessible, and worth engaging with. From local dynamics to national debates, I aim to connect facts with context so readers can form their own informed views. I believe strong journalism should challenge, question, and open space for thoughtful discussion rather than amplify noise.