European Commission

Despite pushback from Apple, the European Parliament in January voted overwhelmingly for new rules to establish a common charging standard for mobile device makers across the European Union. This article explores what form the EU laws might ultimately take and how they could affect Apple device users in Europe and elsewhere. What Exactly is the EU Calling For? To reduce cost, electronic...

The European Commission today fined Apple €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) for anti-competitive conduct against rival music streaming services. In a response published on its website, Apple fiercely attacked the Commission's decision, as well as Spotify's behavior. The fine comes as the conclusion to a long-running investigation by the EU, triggered by a complaint from Spotify, into Apple's...

Apple is set to be hit with a €500 million ($538 million) fine for allegedly breaking EU law over access to music streaming services, according to a Financial Times report. The focus of the European Commission's investigation has been Apple's policy of preventing streaming music apps from informing iPhone and iPad users within the app that lower subscription prices are available when signing ...

Apple's iMessage will avoid regulation requiring interoperability with other messaging platforms under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), following the conclusion of an investigation by the regulator (via Bloomberg). The probe concluded that the iMessage platform and Microsoft's Bing do not hold a dominant enough position to be brought under the DMA's strict rules for services provided by...

Apple today completely overhauled its app system, introducing changes that allow developers to distribute their apps through alternative app stores and use alternative methods of payment in iOS 17.4. Unfortunately, these changes are limited to countries that are in the European Union, and they won't be implemented worldwide. There are 27 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia,...

Apple has proposed opening its NFC payment technology to third-party developers in Europe, allowing direct rivals to Apple Pay to operate on the iPhone for the first time. Historically, the use of Apple's NFC chip in iPhones and Apple Watches for payments has been exclusively utilized by ‌Apple Pay‌, limiting the ability of banks and other financial services to offer their own contactless...

Apple has reportedly offered to open up the iPhone near-field communication (NFC) system that Apple Pay uses to other payment services, in a possible effort to forestall impending EU regulatory action. In a brief report Tuesday, Reuters said that Apple has offered to let rivals access the NFC system in iPhones, but it is not yet clear what Apple's proposal involves. Banks have complained...

Apple's iMessage chat service may dodge EU regulatory demands for platform interoperability after all. Bloomberg reports that an investigation by the bloc's antitrust watchdog has tentatively concluded that the chat service is not popular enough with business users to warrant being subject to the new rules. The EU has been working on legislation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that would ...

Apple today filed a legal challenge against the European Union's Digital Markets Act ahead of the impending requirement to enable app sideloading on its devices (via Reuters). The Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into effect on November 1, 2022, requires "gatekeeper" companies to open up their services and platforms to other companies and developers. The DMA will have a significant...

Apple has suffered a setback in its €13 billion ($14 billion) tax dispute with Brussels after an advisor to the EU's highest court said the company's victory in an earlier ruling should be thrown out (via Financial Times). Giovanni Pitruzzella, advocate-general of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), said on Thursday that Apple's win in the EU General Court "should be set aside" because it...

Google and European telecom groups have urged EU regulators to designate iMessage a "core" service that would force Apple to make the communications platform interoperable with competing chat services, reports the Financial Times. In a letter sent to the European Commission, the EU's executive body, the signatories including Google and some of Europe's largest telecoms operators claimed that ...

Apple recently claimed that Safari is three different browsers in effort to avoid regulation in the European Union (via The Register). The claim came as part of a response to the European Union in August, just before the European Commission designated many of Apple's iOS, App Store, and Safari as gatekeeper platforms. This classification means that Apple now has to ensure that these...

EU antitrust regulators have asked Apple's users and rivals to rate the importance of Apple's iMessage and Microsoft's Bing versus competing services, reports Reuters. According to people familiar with the matter, the European Commission sent out the questionnaires earlier this month, asking if there was anything specific to iMessage and Microsoft's Bing, Edge, and Microsoft Advertising that ...

Apple argues that iMessage is not sufficiently popular to be classified as a "gatekeeper" under EU law, the Financial Times reports. The discussion comes ahead of the publication of the first list of services to be regulated by the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The legislation introduces new rules that apply to tech giants that meet its "gatekeeper" criteria and force them to open up their...

Last year, the EU passed legislation that will require the iPhone and many other devices with wired charging to be equipped with a USB-C port in order to be sold in the region. Apple has until December 28, 2024 to adhere to the law, but the switch from Lightning to USB-C is expected to happen with iPhone 15 models later this year. It was rumored in February that Apple may be planning to limit...

Spotify and eight companies and associations have written a letter to the EU Commission's executive vice president calling Apple a harmful, anti-competitive, and monopolistic company that must be regulated through "urgent action." The letter, signed by the CEOs and heads of Basecamp, Deezer, Proton, Schibsted, Spotify, European Publishers Council (EPC), France Digitale, and News Media...

New EU rules came into force today that could compel Apple to let users access third-party app stores and permit app sideloading on iPhones and iPads, among other sweeping changes designed to make the digital sector fairer and more competitive. Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the rules will apply to tech giants that meet its "gatekeeper" criteria and force them to open up their various...

Smartphone manufacturers supplying the EU will be required to provide spare parts for at least five years from the date of a device's introduction and ensure longer battery life, according to new draft proposals published by the European Commission. The Financial Times reports that the proposals would require at least 15 different component parts to be made available and that batteries...

Qualcomm has successfully appealed a 997 million euro ($1.05 billion) fine from EU antitrust regulators for paying Apple to use its LTE chips in iOS devices (via Reuters). The fine was imposed by regulators in 2018 after a European Commission investigation concluded that payments to Apple from 2011 to 2016 were made with the sole aim of blocking Qualcomm's LTE chipset market rivals, such as...

The European Commission is set to release a draft law this week that could require tech companies like Apple and Google to identify, remove and report to law enforcement illegal images of child abuse on their platforms, claims a new report out today. According to a leak of the proposal obtained by Politico, the EC believes voluntary measures taken by some digital companies have thus far...

In line with a report late last week, the European Commission today officially announced that it has issued a Statement of Objections to Apple over its restrictions that prevent third-party services from accessing the NFC capabilities of the iPhone, thereby restricting competition in mobile wallets on iOS. The statement is a preliminary view that will need to be confirmed with further...