European Union: Council adopts position on "gatekeeper" qualification in DMA

On 25 November 2021, the EU Council adopted its general approach on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposal. The adopted text brings several amendments with regards to the “gatekeeper” designation. Firstly, the designation procedure was amended to include the definition of “active end-users” and “active business users” and to provide a methodology on how the number of users should be determined. Secondly, the procedure was amended to shorten the deadline regarding the classification of a company providing a “core service” as a “gatekeeper”. Furthermore, the Council introduced one additional obligation for “gatekeepers”, which aims to ensure that the “end-users” have the right to unsubscribe from the company’s core platform services. Finally, the compromise proposal states that the European Commission will enforce the regulation and specifies that national competition authorities would be able to conduct investigations into alleged infringements but they will have to contact the Commission regarding their findings.