From regulation to reality: Lessons from the Digital Markets Act’s early enforcement

Abstract The Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) entered into force on 1 November 2022. Its rules started to apply six months later, in May 2023. From that point, companies providing core platform services (“CPS”) meeting the quantitative thresholds set out in the DMA had two months, or until July 2023, to notify the Commission. The Commission then had until September 2023 to decide on whether to designate these companies as gatekeepers. Following designation, gatekeepers had six months – until March 2024 – to comply. March 2024 is therefore the point from which one could legitimately expect to see tangibles changes as a result of the DMA. The DMA was devised to make digital markets fairer and more contestable, and to do so quickly. Its ex ante obligations are intended to be self-executing and foster a culture of compliance in relation to directly applicable “remedies” to the known market issues covered by the DMA. The question is then: how effective is the gatekeepers’ compliance one and a half year in? March 2024 was also the point when the Commission’s monitoring and enforcement powers became effective. While the Commission has been intensively engaging with the gatekeepers during the designation phase with the aim to steer compliance, there was little doubt that effective compliance would require close monitoring and possibly enforcement. The Commission designated seven undertakings as gatekeepers in relation to 23 CPSs. While not all obligations apply to all types of core platform services, multiplying the DMA’s obligations with the number of core platform services results in a three-digit number of relevant obligations that the Commission must monitor and potentially enforce. Clearly, this requires efficient enforcement strategies and some degree of prioritisation. How did the Commission organise itself to achieve this? This article aims to shed light on both of these questions. It gives insight on how the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of the DMA took place during this first year and offers a perspective on what can be expected going forward.