Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft notify the European Commission that they fulfilled the requirements for the new EU tech gatekeeper status

Alphabet's Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft have informed the European Commission that they qualify as gatekeepers under new EU digital laws, according to EU industry director Thierry Breton.

Companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a market value of EUR 75 billion (approximately Rs. 670 crore) are deemed gatekeepers providing a basic platform service under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which went into effect in November.

According to Breton, Samsung and TikTok owner ByteDance have also said that they fulfil the EU standards.

"Europe is completely reorganising its digital space to better protect EU citizens while also increasing innovation for EU startups and businesses," Breton said in a statement.

After reviewing the evidence given by the firms, the Commission will confirm the gatekeeper designation by September 6. After then, they will have six months to comply with the DMA guidelines.

Booking.com stated that it anticipates meeting the gatekeeper criteria by the end of the year and would subsequently inform the EU government.

Companies branded as gatekeepers must make their messaging applications interoperable with competitors and allow consumers to choose which apps to pre-install on their devices.

They will not be permitted to prioritise their own services over competitors' offerings or to block customers from deleting pre-installed software or applications, two measures that would severely impact Google and Apple.

DMA infractions can result in fines of up to 10% of annual worldwide revenue.