Apple challenges the DMA in the EU's General Court, saying it “imposes hugely onerous and intrusive burdens” at odds with Apple's rights in the EU marketplace
Apple Inc. lashed out at the European Union's attempts to tame the power of Silicon Valley in the most far-reaching legal challenge …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s General Court action extends a long-running effort to contest the DMA’s application to its services. The company had already signaled a challenge to its App Store designation and iMessage’s coverage before the rules took effect.
The case also follows Apple’s separate appeal of the iOS interoperability order and its unsuccessful request that the EU repeal the law. Together, those moves turn compliance disputes into a broader legal test of the DMA’s reach.
First-order effects
- Apple and the European Commission now face a General Court fight over whether the DMA’s obligations improperly burden Apple’s EU operations and rights.
- The challenge adds a central legal track alongside Apple’s disputes over interoperability and App Store rules, rather than resolving those individual compliance questions.
Second-order effects
- Other designated platforms gain a closely watched argument over the limits of DMA obligations, even as their own compliance scrutiny continues.
- Developers and businesses dependent on Apple’s platform rules face continued uncertainty over which DMA requirements will ultimately govern access and interoperability.
Third-order effects
- If courts narrow or affirm the DMA’s application through cases such as this, EU platform regulation will be shaped not only by enforcement decisions but by judicial definitions of gatekeeper duties.
- The broader contest is whether regulation can force openness at key digital access layers while preserving platforms’ control over their operating systems and marketplaces.
The trend: Big platforms are increasingly using court challenges to define the practical boundaries of ex ante EU gatekeeper regulation.