European Parliament to vote on milestone regulation of digital giants

Today, the European Parliament will vote on its position on the Digital Markets Act, which, along with its sister legislation the Digital Services Act (DSA), has been heavily lobbied and debated. The EU has taken the global lead in regulating tech giants such as Facebook and Google in an effort to ensure market fairness and data protection. With this milestone report, the European Parliament has reinforced the initial proposal of the Commission to the benefit of consumers.

Marcel Kolaja MEP, Member of the Pirate Party and Greens/EFA shadow rapporteur in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, comments:

"Internal Market rules must have consumers’ interest at the very centre. And that is particularly important when it comes to provisions on interoperability. With interoperability, we will not be stuck in dominant social networks that monetize our data and target us with commercial offers based on our biggest fears or keep us locked in information bubbles. Interoperability obligations for social networks and interpersonal communication services are great news for consumers and will increase digital markets' contestability enormously. The European Parliament has sent a strong message to all internet users, who often do not have another choice than to accept the rules of dominant service providers, that Europe truly is fighting for their right to choose."

Kira Peter-Hansen MEP, Greens/EFA shadow rapporteur in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, comments: 

“Today the European Parliament laid another milestone on the road to democratising the internet. We have sent a strong signal to the digital market that online communications and information must not be controlled by a few Silicon Valley bosses. The EU must ensure fair competition, both in the online and offline world, and we must step in to prevent digital giants from exploiting their monopoly positions. We celebrate in particular the clear definitions of gatekeepers and harmful practises. The European Parliament must now seize this momentum in the upcoming work on the OECD minimum tax deal.”

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In particular, the European Parliament has been calling for the DMA to include more robust provisions for interoperability to allow users to be able to communicate on different messenger services and data protection standards. The Greens/EFA Group pushed for amendments on interoperability and continues to call for a ban on surveillance-based advertisement to further protect consumers. Trilogue negotiations are set to begin at the start of 2022. The plenary vote outcome is expected to be announced at 19:00 today.

The upcoming French Council Presidency has already made clear that this file is a priority and it will push forward the negotiations with the aim of having an agreement by April when the French presidential elections will take place.