EU targets Apple, Google for digital market rules violations
Europe is urging American giants like Apple to improve the interoperability of their devices with third-party platforms, such as smartwatches and headphones.
U.S. companies that do not comply with this European request risk hefty fines, which could be announced as soon as today, Wednesday, April 2. This is unfolding while U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose additional tariffs on countries regulating American tech platforms. The European Commission could announce sanctions today for violating EU digital competition rules, potentially pushing the so-called "Big Tech" companies into an escalation of the trade war between the United States and the European Union.
"The EU has all the means to respond accordingly to any attacks: tit for tat," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Let's consider the companies involved one by one:
Google is accused of anti-competitive practices and two significant violations of EU legislation. The first concerns promoting its own services (hotel bookings, sports results, etc.) in search results, disadvantageting competitors.
The second violation concerns Google allegedly blocking developers from informing their customers about alternative channels where they could get better deals. While the company has the right to charge developers for redirecting users to other platforms, the Commission believes these fees are excessive and imposed for an unjustifiably long period.
Apple is under scrutiny regarding interoperability, which is now closely monitored. Apple should make technical documentation more accessible to third-party developers to facilitate the integration of apps and devices with iOS and iPadOS systems. Failure to meet these requirements could result in fines of over $39 billion for Apple!
The EU has the legal authority to impose fines of up to 10% of the global turnover of companies violating regulations, or up to 20% for repeat offenses. With annual revenues exceeding $350 billion for Alphabet (Google's parent company), these sanctions could amount to colossal sums.
All these actions aim to create a fairer digital market, where consumers have more diverse options and small businesses can compete with digital giants. However, legal questions remain regarding the balance between encouraging technological innovation and the risk of overregulation. An initial response could come today.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
