The Digital Markets Act is an EU law that sets fixed rules for the largest digital platforms, called gatekeepers. It bans practices such as self-preferencing and requires more openness. It has applied since May 2023.
Table of Contents
Types of DMA obligations
- Self-executing (Article 5): rules that apply as written, such as bans on parity clauses, on combining personal data across services without consent, and on stopping business users from steering customers elsewhere.
- Open to further detail (Article 6): rules the Commission can specify for each gatekeeper, such as interoperability, data portability and choice screens.
- Messaging interoperability (Article 7): designated messaging services must open basic functions to rival services on request.
Key factors
- Designation first. Obligations bind only the core platform services the Commission designates, so the scope of each designation matters.
- Penalties. Fines can reach 10% of worldwide turnover, or 20% for repeat breaches. Repeated non-compliance can lead to structural remedies.
- Anti-circumvention. Gatekeepers may not undermine obligations through contracts, fees, technical design or interface tricks.
- What users see. Remedies such as choice screens change behaviour only where users actually meet them.
Examples
Apple. In April 2025 the Commission fined Apple €500 million for breaching the anti-steering rule, in one of its first two DMA non-compliance decisions. Apple’s App Store terms stopped app developers telling users about cheaper offers outside the store. The Commission gave Apple 60 days to remove the restrictions. The case enforced a self-executing rule.
Booking.com. Booking.com was designated a gatekeeper in May 2024 and had to comply by 14 November 2024. Under the ban on parity clauses, it removed parity terms from its contracts with accommodation providers in the European Economic Area in July 2024. In September 2026, after talks with the Commission, it also stopped using hotels’ prices elsewhere to decide which properties qualify for price cuts it funds itself.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Digital Markets Act different from competition law?
Competition law acts after the event, case by case, and must prove harm in a defined market. The DMA sets rules in advance for designated gatekeepers, so the Commission only has to show a rule was broken.
When did the Digital Markets Act come into force?
It entered into force on 1 November 2022 and applied from 2 May 2023. The first gatekeepers were designated on 6 September 2023 and had to comply by March 2024.
Does the Digital Markets Act apply to firms based outside the EU?
Yes. It applies to any firm offering core platform services to businesses or users in the EU, wherever the firm is based, provided it meets the designation criteria.
Has the Digital Markets Act worked?
In its first review, published in April 2026, the Commission concluded the law was fit for purpose. Critics point to slow compliance and to remedies, such as choice screens, that changed little where users did not see them.
Does the UK have its own version of the DMA?
Yes. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the CMA give firms strategic market status and set conduct requirements case by case. It made its first designations in October 2025.