DMA: Apple Appeals Penalty

After Meta , it's Apple 's turn. As anticipated several weeks ago, the Cupertino company has appealed against the 500 million euro fine imposed by the European Commission for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA). A similar appeal was filed at the beginning of June against the interoperability obligation.

Excessive fines and complex rules

At the end of the investigation launched on March 25, 2024 , the European Commission has determined that Apple imposes restrictions on developers by preventing them from providing information to users about cheaper purchase options outside the store and by asking for a 27% commission.

In late June, the Cupertino company announced several changes to comply with the European Commission's decision. The so-called anti-steering clause has been removed, so developers can include links in apps to communicate the availability of offers. New fees (Initial Acquisition Fee, Store Services Feebasate, and Core Technology Commission) based on the level of service of the store have also been introduced.

Apple said it had appealed the fine to the General Court of the European Union:

Today we filed an appeal because we believe the European Commission’s decision and unprecedented fine go far beyond what is required by law. As our appeal will demonstrate, the European Commission is requiring us to operate our store and apply commercial terms that are confusing for developers and harmful to users. We took this step to avoid punitive daily fines and will share the facts with the Court.

Apple added that the new tiered system with different services was requested by the European Commission and introduced to avoid daily penalties (up to 5% of average global revenue).

The fight will then continue in court, as will happen in the case of Meta. Google has not yet received a fine because new proposals for changes to the search engine must be evaluated.