Brussels, BELGIUM – Today, the European Commission announced it agreed to close its investigation into Apple Pay after reaching a settlement with Apple. The European Commission also confirmed the conduct implemented by Apple as a part of the settlement should be jointly considered as a compliance measure with the relevant obligation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and a remedy in the antitrust case.
CCIA Europe welcomes this announcement. The Association has spoken at length about the importance of a clear process. CCIA Europe has also highlighted the tensions between the DMA and other regulations, as well as antitrust enforcement.
Today’s announcement sets a positive precedent to ensure coherence between antitrust cases and the DMA. It is essential that companies are not subjected to different solutions for the same problem under the DMA and competition law, safeguarding both fairness and efficiency.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Senior Vice President, Daniel Friedlaender:
“We welcome the European Commission’s push for coherence between antitrust cases and the DMA, which shows that competition concerns can be resolved despite attempts at politicisation.”
“The Commission is clear; it stressed that today’s decision concerns business practices that are covered by the DMA. The outcome of this settlement is therefore important as it points to a clear alignment between the two frameworks.”
“For the sake of legal certainty, the Commission must ensure all competition cases are handled in synergy with the DMA process. The outcomes of a settlement should be taken into account in DMA related discussions, to avoid any double jeopardy.”
“Future parallel enforcement of the DMA and competition law must be coordinated to ensure that companies are not penalised twice for the same potential infraction.”