The European Commission is setting up a new board, to be led by two members of its antitrust committee, to hold large tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Meta to account under the new rules, people familiar with the matter said.Digital Markets Act (Digital Markets Act).
This rumor coincides with the EU's previous statement that it will set up an independent group and appoint an independent administrator to oversee the actions of technology companies within the EU.
The new board is expected to be led by Alberto Bacchiega, an official who handles antitrust matters for tech companies, and will be assisted by Thomas Kramler, head of the department responsible for handling antitrust cases in e-commerce and the data economy, to help EU institutions enforce digital market laws smoothly.
In the Digital Markets Act, the EU further stipulates that "gatekeepers" cannot pre-install or require users to only use specific software services, or require developers to use specified browser engines, payment systems, etc. before they can list software services on the software market. It also stipulates that "gatekeepers" cannot allow their own software services and products to have higher publicity effects and priority. It also includes that data collected from specific services cannot be applied to other services to avoid unfair competition models.
The new law will also require tech companies to pay an annual fee of 0.1% of their global net profits as EU regulatory costs, which is expected to increase EU revenue by €2000 million to €3000 million annually. Violations will result in fines of 6% of global revenue, and repeat offenders may even face a ban from conducting business within the EU.
