Brussels Accuses Apple of Violating EU Rules, New Penalty Follows

Brussels has accused Apple of stifling competition in its app store, marking the first time EU regulators have applied new digital rules to a major tech company, according to the FT.

This pertains to the Digital Markets Act, which represents a set of strict rules designed to dismantle the dominance of large tech platforms and help startups remain competitive.

If found guilty, Apple will face a penalty amounting to 10 percent of its global annual revenue. Fines can increase to 20 percent in the case of repeated violations, the EU stated.

Apple’s new slogan should be ‘act differently’. Today we are taking further steps to ensure that Apple complies with the DMA rules, said Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market.

The Commission, the executive branch of the Union, also announced on Monday that it is investigating whether Apple’s fees for developers violate Union rules. The fees include a charge of 50 cents per download that companies must pay if their app is used by more than one million people. As part of the new investigation into developer fees, Brussels stated it is examining whether Apple imposes too many restrictions on users for downloading and installing alternative app stores. Additionally, European regulators are concerned about the restrictions Apple places on developers to ‘freely manage their customers’.

Following the accusations from the Union, Apple announced that it will ‘make a series of changes to comply with the DMA law.

– We are confident that our plan is compliant with the law and estimate that over 99 percent of developers would pay the same or lower fees to Apple under the new business terms we have created, said Apple.

In January, Apple introduced historic changes to its iOS mobile software, app store, and Safari web browser in the EU as part of efforts to alleviate competition concerns. They also recently announced that they are delaying the introduction of artificial intelligence features on the iPhone in the EU due to the uncertainties brought by the new tech rules.

Apple has yet to find ‘common ground’ with EU regulators. The company has already been fined 1.8 billion euros this year for stifling competing music streaming services, but it is attempting to contest that decision in EU courts.