Source: AFP
The European Union on Monday added Dutch online travel giant Booking.com to its list of digital companies big enough to be subject to tougher competition rules.
Brussels also said it would investigate whether social media platform X, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, could be exempted from the rules.
The former Twitter filed a rebuttal arguing that “despite meeting the limits, X does not qualify as an important gateway between businesses and consumers,” said the European Commission, whose investigation should be completed within five months.
Booking.com, whose parent company Booking Holdings is based in the United States, now has six months to prepare to comply with the landmark Digital Marketing Act (DMA).
The EU has already named six market “gatekeepers” who must comply with the DMA: Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok owner ByteDance.
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The rules aim to level the playing field in the digital market, ensuring that EU users have more choice when choosing products such as web browsers and search engines.
The DMA also requires companies to inform Brussels before takeovers of other companies, regardless of size, in a bid to limit monopolies.
Booking.com is a dominant player with a market share in Europe of over 60 percent.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton pledged that the EU “will work to ensure full compliance with the DMA obligations within six months”.
Companies in the spotlight
With the DMA, the EU can impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company’s total worldwide turnover. This can rise to 20 percent for repeat offenders, and in the most serious cases, the EU can order companies to be wound up.
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The EU has not shied away from taking on the biggest digital platforms, such as Booking, through its new laws or using older, more established rules.
Brussels last year blocked Booking’s bid for eTraveli, a smaller online travel agent, citing fears that any approval could lead to higher prices for consumers.
The EU has already launched investigations under the DMA into Apple, Google and Meta.
In order for Brussels to designate a company as a gatekeeper, it must meet certain conditions.
Criteria include more than 45 million monthly active users in the EU and more than 10,000 annual active business users installed in the bloc.
Digital companies with an annual EU turnover of at least 7.5 billion euros ($8.1 billion) or a market value of more than 75 billion euros also face the new restrictive measures.
In the same statement on Monday, the commission also said it chose not to include advertising services provided by X and TikTok on its list.
Source: AFP