Commissioners Ribera and Virkkunen responded to MAGA politician Jim Jordan’s attack on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) today, one of the first defences of EU tech laws by the near-new Commissioners.
The letter seen by Euractiv said it provided the Commission with an “opportunity to clarify” the objectives of the DMA.
The Commission said that the DMA did not apply exclusively to American companies because the law has no extraterritorial application – it only applies to companies operating in the EU and designated as a gatekeeper. Two of the gatekeepers designated under the DMA were headquartered in the EU and China, referring to Booking.com and TikTok, the letter also argued.
The DMA also enabled innovation by allowing smaller companies, including smaller US companies, to innovate in EU markets and to “become more independent from large platforms,” the letter also said.
MAGA House Representative Jim Jordan wrote a letter on 23 February, criticising Europe for “weaponising” the DMA against American tech companies, which it does not do.
Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew) and Andreas Schwab (EPP) wrote separately to US Attorney General Pamela Bondi and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to “set the record straight” on the DMA. “Every day, US Representatives flood the EU with letters to demand answers…everything they say about the Digital Markets Act is factually incorrect”, Yon-Courtin also said.
The Commission has open non-compliance investigations into Alphabet, Apple and Meta, which are set to be concluded by the end of March.
