Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Sanskriti
Europe’s antitrust head said on Friday that draught regulations aimed at limiting the dominance of firms like Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc subsidiary Google should apply to more than just the top five internet giants.
The new laws, known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), are Europe’s means of guaranteeing that the U.S. After several antitrust probes failed to establish a level playing field, IT businesses treat competitors and users equally.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s Executive Vice President, has proposed that firms with annual European turnover of more than 6.5 billion euros ($7.7 billion) in the previous three years or market price of more than 65 billion euros in the past financial year be targeted, in at least three EU countries, and which provide a basic platform service this would most certainly have an influence on approximately ten major corporations.
However, Andreas Schwab, a member of the European Parliament, wants to raise the income barrier to ten billion euros and the market value to at least one hundred billion, thus separating out Google, Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
“The DMA is about companies who have gatekeeping power, and what responsibility you get if you have that kind of power. What we have been trying to describe are the different features that would describe that kind of market power. It is not about a list of companies, shorter or longer,” Vestager said in an interview.
Vestager said, “It’s about the market presence and the power you get from that market presence. And I think I think it’s absolutely normal to have these debates…But for me, it’s very important that this is what it’s about.”
Certain enforcement powers can be given to DMA over the French and German Watchdogs, she said she is willing to give this to their colleagues in other European Union countries, as long as they were all singing from the same hymn sheet.
“We want a single European rulebook. We have tabled this proposal to avoid fragmentation,” Vestager said.
Before the DMA can become legislation, it must be worked out with EU nations and legislators.
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