U.S tech giants face tough new rules as EU countries, lawmakers clinch deal

Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Google (AAPL.O), Apple, Meta (FB.O), and Microsoft (MSFT.O), may need to alter their core business practices in Europe after the EU countries and EU legislators reached a deal Thursday on landmark rules to limit their power.

France currently holds the rotating EU presidency. A tweet by Breton confirmed that a provisional agreement had been reached after eight hours of negotiations. Thierry Breton, chief of EU industry, also confirmed the news via a tweet.

Margrethe Vestager, EU antitrust chief, proposed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), just over a decade ago as a response to slow competition investigations. It sets out rules for platforms and companies that control data.

The DMA will require tech giants to make their messaging services compatible and allow business users to access their data. Businesses would be able promote their products and services on platforms and make deals with customers.

These rules prevent companies from favoring their services over competitors', or preventing users removing pre-installed apps or software.

Companies with a market capitalization of 75 billion euro, 7.5 billion euro in annual turnover, and at least 45,000,000 monthly users will be eligible for the DMA.

For breaking the rules, companies could face fines of up to 10% on their global annual turnover and as high as 20% for repeat offenses.

Reporting by FooYun Chee; Editing By Cynthia Osterman

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