UK competition and digital-markets regulation: the CMA’s digital markets and strategic market status regime, the DMCCA 2024, concurrent competition powers, and where it meets data and payments.
In short: The AliExpress DSA EU fine of €550 million, imposed on 20 July 2026, is the first penalty for breaching the systemic-risk duties in Articles 34 and 35 of the EU Digital Services Act. UK law applies to the same listings through Ofcom, the CMA and existing product safety enforcement, though none of those…
In short: DMA specification decisions adopted by the European Commission on 16 July 2026 tell Google exactly how to comply with two Digital Markets Act obligations: opening eleven defined Android features to rival AI assistants by 1 August 2027 at the latest, and sharing anonymised Google Search ranking, query, click and view data with competing…
In short: Software licence exhaustion is the principle that once a copyright owner has sold a copy of its software, it cannot use copyright to control the resale of that copy. On 7 July 2026, in ValueLicensing v Microsoft [2026] EWCA Civ 872, the Court of Appeal dismissed Microsoft’s appeals and allowed a reseller’s competition…
In short: CMA steering conduct requirements, proposed on 30 June 2026, would stop Apple banning, and Google restricting, the way UK app developers point their own customers to cheaper off-platform payment. A separate call for evidence asks how third parties should reach the iPhone’s contactless chip. Both close in late July 2026. By Rob Bratby,…
In short: On 16 June 2026, in Joined Cases C-188/24 and C-190/24 WebGroup Czech Republic and NKL Associates and Coyote System (ECLI:EU:C:2026:492), the Court of Justice ruled that an operator whose algorithm determines, in its own interest or that of its service, under what conditions, how and in which order of priority user information is…
In short: On 25 June 2026 the European Commission told Amazon and Microsoft that it provisionally regards AWS and Azure as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act. That preliminary view is the first move towards DMA cloud gatekeeper designation of a cloud service. The UK looked at the same two firms and chose a lighter…
In short: The Microsoft SMS investigation is the CMA’s inquiry into whether Microsoft has strategic market status in business software. Launched on 14 May 2026 under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, it covers Office, Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server and security software. The invitation to comment closed on 4 June 2026 and…
In short: Google search conduct requirements are the CMA’s first behavioural rules on Google’s search business. On 17 June 2026 the CMA imposed Fair Ranking and Data Portability requirements under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 strategic market status regime. Google has six and three months respectively to comply. By Rob Bratby, Managing…
In short: Concurrent competition powers let the FCA, PSR, Ofcom and five other sector regulators apply the Competition Act 1998, not just the CMA. The CMA’s annual concurrency report, published on 2 June 2026, shows that in 2025-26 only two sector regulators ran Competition Act cases, while reform and the PSR-into-FCA merger are about to…
In short: geographic market definition CMA practice asks where customers would switch if a hypothetical monopolist raised price by 5 to 10 per cent. The CMA’s 21 May 2026 Welltower decision found competition concerns in 30 local catchment areas. The CMA reaches the finding through postcode-level overlap mapping and drive-time isochrone analysis, a methodology that…
In short: Competition law and data protection are no longer enforced as separate regimes. The EDPB and the European Commission announced joint guidance work on 28 April 2026, the latest in the EDPB’s cross-regulatory programme. The UK reached the same starting point in May 2021 through the CMA-ICO joint statement and runs the convergence through…
In short: DMA in-app payments parity is here to stay. If you sell or process payments inside iPhone or Android apps, the EU rules forcing platforms to allow alternative wallets are locked in. The Commission confirmed that on 28 April 2026. In the UK, Apple and Google signed CMA commitments on 1 April 2026 and…