The European Commission sentenced the two US corporations Apple and Meta to penalties in three-digit millions for violations of the EU digital laws. Apple has to pay 500 million euros because it actually prevents the developers of apps from providing users free of charge on cheaper offers outside of Apple’s app store. Meta is said to pay 200 million euros because of its payment model. The users of the META platforms Facebook and Instagram have to pay a monthly fee if they no longer want to see advertising. Only those who accept personalized ads can use the networks for free. Both companies now have 60 days to park these practices. If you do not do this, the Commission can impose daily compulsory money in addition to the punished punishments until you react. It is the first punishments that the Commission has imposed on the EU Act for Digital Markets, the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EU wants to restrict the market power of the goalkeepers (gatekeeper) of the digital economy. These rules also apply to Amazon, the booking portal Booking.com, the Tikok mother company bytedance, Google and Microsoft. The approach of the European Commission is political because US President Donald Trump and members of his government have repeatedly criticized the EU’s digital laws issued in the past legislative period. It is also about the law for digital services (DSA). Based on this, the Commission currently acts against Meta and the short message service of Elon Musk, X. Zuckerberg demanded support from Trump’s head of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg,, according to a report by Wall Street Journal, asked the US government to support “aggressive” support in March to averted EU penalties. Shortly afterwards, the DMA also appeared on the list of non-tariffly trade barriers, with which Trump justified the special tariffs of 20 percent on the import from the EU on the day of April 2. It was therefore always speculated in Brussels that the Commission would hold back on the punishments. In extreme cases, they could have amounted to up to 10 percent of the global sales. That would have been punishments in the double -digit billion dollar area. The Commission had always rejected such speculation and emphasized that it strictly followed the proposed procedure, without any political considerations. The decision must withstand in court. Diplomats and MEPs, on the other hand, had submitted to the Commission to delay the procedures opened in the spring of last year so as not to tease Trump unnecessarily. Corporations want to be in an appeal on Wednesday that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not comment, in contrast to Leyen. The responsible vice president Teresa Ribera emphasized that the commission had “resolved but balanced but balanced enforcement measures that are based on clear and foreseeable rules” because they had violated the DMA and steps to strengthen the dependency on business customers and consumers on their platforms. Apple and Meta criticized the decision and announced that it would appeal. Apple spoke of another example of the fact that the Apple Commission is unfairly targeted and forced the technology to hand over technology free of charge. Despite countless meetings, the Commission has always made new requirements. Meta directly placed the punishments in connection with the trade conflict between the United States and the European Union. “The European Commission is trying to hinder successful American companies as it allows Chinese and European companies to work according to other standards,” said the board for global matters, Joel Kaplan. It’s not just a fine. “The Commission in fact has meta a custom of several billions of dollars by force us to change the business model,” said Kaplan. The Commission received approval from the European Parliament. “Today’s decision is by no means the beginning of a ‘tech war’ in response to Trump’s erratic customs policy,” said MP Anna Cavazzini (Greens). It is the consistent implementation of applicable EU law. “The decisions show that Europe does not bend under the political pressure from Washington,” said SPD MP Katarina Barley. “Only if we determine our laws will we secure the digital sovereignty of Europe.” The CDU member Andreas Schwab spoke of an “unmistakable signal”. Unlike partially suggested, these punishments are not “(commercial) political” decisions. It is decisions based on clear legal requirements. For Apple, 500 million euros perhaps acted like a calculable risk – but the violation had only been legally extended for over a year.
The EU Commission imposed high punishments against Apple and Meta despite Trump
