According to reports in the “Handelsblatt”, citing sources within the industry and the Commission, the EU Commission is expected to classify the two US tech giants, Amazon and Microsoft, as “gatekeepers” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the coming weeks. This designation will subject these companies to stricter regulatory oversight. Critically, the DMA is set to apply to the cloud business sector, meaning Amazon’s subsidiary, Amazon Web Services (AWS), will be affected.
However, according to these reports, Google’s cloud offerings will initially be exempt from DMA regulation, a decision seemingly driven by the company’s perceived lower market power in that specific segment. Market data cited suggests that AWS holds a substantial market share of 28 percent, while Microsoft Azure commands 21 percent, and Google Cloud accounts for 14 percent. European providers, by comparison, play only a minor role in the market.
Under the DMA framework, a gatekeeper is defined as an enterprise possessing exceptionally high market power and considerable influence. Once designated as such, these companies must comply with specific EU mandates. Failure to comply could lead the Commission to initiate formal proceedings, potentially resulting in fines of up to ten percent of the company’s total global annual revenue. The EU Commission, however, declined to comment on the specific reasons behind the impending classification.
