Apple asks the EU to repeal the DMA; EU rejects Apple's demand, saying it is “not surprised” as Apple has “contested every little bit” of DMA since day one
Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) - The European Union rejected a call by Apple to scrap its landmark digital competition law …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s repeal request extends a long-running dispute over how the DMA applies to its platform rules. Before this, the EU had published a €500M DMA non-compliance decision against Apple, while earlier preliminary findings targeted Apple’s anti-steering developer terms.
The rejection also fits Apple’s established effort to contest its DMA treatment, including its earlier challenge to the App Store’s DMA designation. It matters because the company is seeking to change the governing framework, not merely dispute a single compliance finding.
First-order effects
- The DMA remains in force despite Apple’s request, leaving Apple subject to the EU’s existing gatekeeper and compliance process.
- Apple’s dispute with EU regulators stays on a legal and regulatory track; the rejection offers no route to unwind the underlying obligations through repeal.
Second-order effects
- The exchange strengthens the EU’s position that enforcement and compliance—not renegotiation of the law—are the available paths for designated platforms.
- Other gatekeepers facing DMA scrutiny have clearer reason to prepare for the same enforcement posture, particularly as Apple had already faced a DMA compliance hearing alongside other major platforms.
Third-order effects
- If this posture persists, the DMA will function less as a rule set firms can overturn through individual objections and more as a durable operating constraint contested case by case.
- The central structural question becomes how courts define the boundaries of gatekeeper obligations; Apple’s subsequent General Court challenge to the DMA illustrates that the conflict is likely to move from policy arguments toward legal interpretation.
The trend: This is one data point in the EU’s shift from setting platform-competition rules to defending and enforcing them against sustained gatekeeper challenges.