BRUSSELS: Schibsted, Allegro, and over 20 other small European companies and industry groups are urging Big Tech to seek their input on how they plan to comply with new EU rules before the March deadline.
Last year, the European Union announced that 22 “gatekeeper” services, operated by six of the world’s biggest tech companies, would be subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with a list of requirements. The DMA mandates these gatekeepers to collaborate with competitors in operating their messaging apps and allow users to choose pre-installed apps on their devices, among other things.
The companies have until March 6 to comply with the new rules. In a joint open letter, Schibsted from Sweden, Allegro from Poland, and 22 other companies expressed concern that the efforts thus far seem insufficient. They stated, “Gatekeepers have either failed to engage in a dialogue with third parties or have presented solutions falling short of compliance with the DMA. Businesses and consumers are largely kept in the dark as to what is going to happen after March 7, 2024.”
They urged Big Tech to “engage as soon as possible with business users and other stakeholders, such as business and consumer associations, in a constructive dialogue and make swift progress on their proposed compliance solutions.”
Other signatories to the letter include Idealo from Germany, Qwant and Le Guide from France, Kelkoo and Proton from the UK, and Vipps MobilePay. The call by the companies and nine industry groups echoes similar recent requests from European Commission officials.
