EU targets AWS and Azure as gatekeepers under the DMA

What happened?

On September 3, 2024, the European Commission informed Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This notification, reported by The Next Web, is unusual because neither service meets the quantitative thresholds set by the DMA for automatic designation (annual EEA turnover above €7.5 billion or market capitalization above €75 billion, and at least 45 million monthly end users).

The Commission has opened a market investigation to assess whether, despite not meeting those numbers, AWS and Azure should be considered gatekeepers due to their strategic position and ability to influence the digital market. This procedure is provided for in Article 17 of the DMA, which allows designating as a gatekeeper companies that do not meet the thresholds but fulfill certain qualitative criteria.

Why is this important?

The DMA, which entered into force in November 2022 and has been fully applicable since March 2024, aims to ensure fair competition in digital markets. Until now, designations had focused on platforms like Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon (in its marketplace role), but not on cloud infrastructure services.

If AWS and Azure are ultimately designated, they would be subject to obligations such as:

• Not favoring their own services over third parties on their platforms.
• Allowing users to uninstall pre-installed applications or easily switch cloud service providers.
• Ensuring interoperability with competing services.
• Providing advertisers and publishers access to data generated on their platforms.

This measure is seen as a precedent for regulating the cloud computing market, which is currently dominated by AWS (33% global share), Azure (22%), and Google Cloud (11%). The EU aims to prevent anti-competitive practices such as lock-in (customer dependency) or exclusive-use discounts that hinder portability.

What consequences will it have?

For AWS and Azure, the designation would entail significant operational changes. They would need to adjust their business models to comply with DMA obligations, which could affect their revenues and competitive advantage. Microsoft has already faced criticism for practices like tying Azure to other products such as Office 365, which could be investigated.

For business customers, the measure could translate into greater freedom to switch cloud providers, lower exit costs, and more interoperability options. European startups and SMEs, which often rely on a single provider, would benefit the most.

For the market, the decision could accelerate the adoption of open standards and foster competition from European providers like OVHcloud or Deutsche Telekom. However, it could also create regulatory uncertainty and slow down investment in cloud infrastructure in Europe.

The Commission has up to 12 months to complete the investigation and make a final decision. Companies can submit arguments and propose commitments to avoid designation.

What should readers know?

This move by Brussels is a paradigm shift in digital regulation. The DMA was designed for consumer platforms, but now it extends to B2B infrastructure. We are likely to see more investigations into other cloud services like Google Cloud Platform or even Chinese providers like Alibaba Cloud.

Readers should understand that the designation is neither automatic nor final. The market investigation is an open process where companies can negotiate. However, the mere threat of designation is already sending a clear signal: the EU is willing to use all available tools to keep digital markets open and competitive.

“The European Commission is showing that the DMA is not just for large consumer platforms, but can be applied to any digital service that exercises essential access control. This could redefine cloud regulation worldwide.” — Analyst at TheVortiq.

In summary, if you work in the tech sector or use cloud services in your company, this is a development to watch closely. The final decision could set a global precedent for how cloud giants are regulated.