Digital Markets Act
In shortThe DMA forces large platforms into portability and interoperability — a lever almost nobody uses.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, applicable since May 2023, gatekeeper obligations since March 2024
- Who is covered
- Gatekeepers designated by the Commission — large platform operators with an entrenched market position
- Central obligations
- Real-time data portability, messaging interoperability, no self-preferencing, no forced tying of services
- Usable by companies
- A right to continuous, machine-readable access to your own data and that of your end users
- Enforcement
- Directly by the European Commission, with fines reaching double-digit percentages of worldwide turnover
- Common misconception
- That the DMA is consumer protection — it is primarily competition law with direct benefits for business users
The Digital Markets Act is competition law, not data protection law. It addresses a small number of gatekeepers designated by the Commission and imposes conduct obligations that apply without any need to prove abuse.
For companies concerned with dependence it is relevant for one reason: it creates enforceable rights to your own data and to interoperability — precisely where lock-in forms.
The obligations that matter in practice
Data portability. Gatekeepers must give business users continuous access to data generated through use, in a machine-readable format. That covers advertising data, marketplace data, usage data.
Interoperability. Communication services face requirements intended to enable interoperability between services — the area where implementation has moved slowest.
No self-preferencing. Own services may not be ranked more favourably.
No forced tying. Use of one service may not be conditioned on use of another.
How to use it
The DMA is rarely invoked actively, because it is perceived as regulation of large corporations. In practice it is usable wherever a gatekeeper withholds data generated by your own use.
The route there is unspectacular: check which export interfaces the provider offers, document where they are incomplete, and turn to the Commission if necessary. For judging whether a dependence is expensive at all, the usual measure applies — see Vendor lock-in.
What it does not deliver
The DMA does not replace open formats. An export in a proprietary but machine-readable format satisfies the obligation without making a switch easy. That is why Open standards remain the more effective provision, and the EU Data Act the more relevant norm when it comes to changing cloud provider.
Common questions
- What do I actually get out of it as a company?
- Above all data portability: gatekeepers must give business users continuous access to the data generated through use of their services, in a machine-readable format. That is a lever against dependence on advertising, marketplace and operating-system platforms.
- How do I invoke it?
- Through the interfaces and procedures the gatekeeper provides. If they are not provided, or made unusable in practice, that is grounds for a complaint to the Commission — not merely a support ticket.
- Does the DMA apply to small providers?
- No. It addresses designated gatekeepers only. Small and mid-sized providers are beneficiaries, not addressees.
- Does the DMA replace the Data Act?
- No, they complement each other. The DMA addresses platform power; the Data Act addresses access to product and cloud data generally. For switching providers the Data Act usually applies; for platform dependence, the DMA.