A platform designated as a gatekeeper must deal with its business users on the terms the EU Digital Markets Act sets. The European Commission enforces those obligations without having to find an abuse in each case. For UK firms, the practical significance is usually not that they are gatekeepers, but that their EU-established operations are business users of gatekeepers: app stores, operating systems, marketplaces, search and cloud services. The Act gives those business users enforceable rights.

The regulatory framework

The Digital Markets Act is Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, enforced by the European Commission. It applies to core platform services that a gatekeeper provides or offers to business users established in the Union, or to end users established or located in the Union, irrespective of where the gatekeeper itself is established (Article 1(2)). A business user must therefore be established in the Union to be within scope: a UK company reaches the regime through an EU establishment, not from the United Kingdom alone. The Regulation also does not apply to markets related to electronic communications networks, or to electronic communications services other than number-independent interpersonal communications services (Article 1(3)). A UK firm operating in EU markets therefore deals with Digital Markets Act-compliant versions of gatekeeper services, and can rely on the rights in Articles 5 to 7.

Only firms the Commission designates as gatekeepers under Article 3 carry the obligations. Designation rests on the three requirements in Article 3(1), which the quantitative thresholds in Article 3(2) presume to be met. Those thresholds are an annual Union turnover of EUR 7.5 billion or more in each of the last three financial years, or an average market capitalisation or equivalent fair market value of at least EUR 75 billion in the last financial year, in either case with the same core platform service provided in at least three Member States. That service must also have had, in the last financial year, at least 45 million monthly active end users established or located in the EU and at least 10,000 yearly active business users established in the EU, having met those user thresholds in each of the last three financial years. The Commission may also designate under Article 3(8) an undertaking that meets the Article 3(1) requirements without meeting the thresholds. A designated gatekeeper must comply with the obligations in Articles 5 to 7. The Commission may fine a gatekeeper up to 10% of its total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year for failing to comply with Articles 5, 6 or 7, rising to 20% where it has committed the same or a similar infringement in relation to the same core platform service within the preceding eight years. Behavioural or structural remedies are available only after a market investigation into systematic non-compliance under Article 18, and only where the gatekeeper has systematically infringed and has maintained, strengthened or extended its gatekeeper position.

Business user rights under Articles 5 to 7

A gatekeeper owes the obligations in Articles 5 and 6 to the businesses that sell through its platform. Under Article 5(4) it must allow a business user, free of charge, to communicate and promote offers to end users acquired through the platform or through other channels, and to conclude contracts with them; under Article 5(3) it cannot stop a business user offering the same products or services elsewhere at different prices or conditions. Under Article 5(7) it cannot require a business user to use, offer or interoperate with its identification service, web browser engine or payment service, or with supporting technical services such as an in-app purchase system. Under Article 6(4) it must allow third-party software and competing app stores on its operating system, subject to measures that are strictly necessary and proportionate to protect integrity and security. Under Article 6(10), a business user and any third party it authorises have a right, on request and free of charge, to effective, high-quality, continuous and real-time access to the aggregated and non-aggregated data provided for or generated in the context of its use of the core platform service and by the end users engaging with its products or services; access to personal data is confined to data directly connected with the end user’s use of the business user’s own products or services, and requires the end user to opt in by giving consent. Under Article 7, a gatekeeper whose number-independent interpersonal communications service is listed in its designation decision must, on request and free of charge, make the basic functionalities of that service interoperable with those of another provider offering or intending to offer such services in the EU, in stages: one-to-one text messaging and file sharing on listing, group messaging within two years of designation, and voice and video calls within four. For a UK e-commerce, telecoms or fintech client, these are enforceable entitlements in the EU rather than matters left to the platform’s discretion.

Feature	EU Digital Markets Act	UK digital markets regime (DMCC Act 2024)
Who is caught	Designated gatekeepers (Article 3 thresholds)	Firms designated with strategic market status
Obligation design	Fixed, per-se obligations (Articles 5 to 7)	Bespoke conduct requirements, tailored to firm and activity
Trigger	Quantitative thresholds; no abuse finding required	Substantial and entrenched market power plus turnover condition
Enforcer	European Commission	Competition and Markets Authority
Maximum fine	10% of global turnover, 20% for repeat breach	10% of the undertaking’s worldwide turnover, or the group’s

How the EU regime differs from the UK approach

The Digital Markets Act does not extend to the United Kingdom. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 the CMA may designate a firm with strategic market status and impose conduct requirements tailored to that firm and activity. Every designated gatekeeper carries the same obligations under Articles 5 to 7; in the UK the CMA sets each conduct requirement for the specific firm and activity. A business operating across both markets must assess the two regimes separately, because designation, obligations and enforcement all differ. Both regimes require data portability, by different legal routes.

Why the Digital Markets Act matters for your business

If your business reaches EU customers through a gatekeeper platform, the gatekeeper must deal with you on the terms in Articles 5 and 6. Under Article 5(4) it must let you communicate and promote your offers, including lower prices, to end users you acquired through the platform, and under Article 6(10) it must give you real-time access to the data generated by your use of the platform and by the end users engaging with your products. Under Article 6(4) it must allow third-party software and competing app stores on its operating system. A designated gatekeeper must also inform the Commission under Article 14 of any intended concentration where the merging entities or the target provide core platform services or other services in the digital sector, or enable the collection of data, irrespective of whether the transaction is notifiable to the Commission under the EU Merger Regulation or to a national competition authority. That matters when a gatekeeper is a counterparty or a potential acquirer. The Commission is now examining cloud services. On 25 June 2026 it informed Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that they should be designated as gatekeepers for Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, and its Article 19 market investigation into cloud computing services remains open. No cloud computing service has yet been designated. Any client assessing vendor lock-in when negotiating cloud contracts should follow that process.

How we work

Bratby Law works with clients as direct legal advisors on a specific question, as specialist co-counsel alongside a competition or corporate team, and as fractional general counsel on a retained basis. Rob Bratby currently holds four fractional General Counsel appointments, at The One Touch Switching Company, TelXL, Core Communication and the UK Payments Initiative. Bratby Law advises on the UK position and refers questions of EU law to specialist EU counsel. Where a matter involves personal data, the data protection analysis runs alongside.

Frequently asked questions about the EU Digital Markets Act

Does the Digital Markets Act apply to my UK business?

Not as an obligation, unless your business is designated as a gatekeeper, which is rare. Article 1(2) brings a business user within the regime only where that business user is established in the Union, whatever the gatekeeper’s own place of establishment, so a UK company reaches the rights in Articles 5 to 7 through an EU establishment rather than from the United Kingdom alone.

Which firms are designated gatekeepers?

The European Commission designates gatekeepers under Article 3, using turnover and user thresholds, in respect of specific core platform services such as app stores, operating systems, search, social networking and online intermediation. The Commission maintains the current list, which as at August 2026 covers seven gatekeepers and 23 core platform services. It has both grown, with iPadOS added on 29 April 2024 and Booking.com on 13 May 2024, and contracted, with Facebook Marketplace undesignated on 23 April 2025. Cloud computing services are the subject of an open market investigation under Article 19.

Can a platform stop me telling customers about cheaper prices elsewhere?

Not if it is a designated gatekeeper. Article 5(4) requires a gatekeeper to allow business users, free of charge, to communicate and promote offers to end users acquired through its core platform service or other channels, and to conclude contracts with them. Article 5(3) separately prevents a gatekeeper from stopping a business user offering the same products or services elsewhere at different prices or conditions.

How does this interact with the UK regime?

The Digital Markets Act governs the EU; the UK’s own regime under the DMCC Act 2024 governs the UK. The Commission and the CMA aim at similar outcomes by different mechanisms, so a business active in both markets must assess each separately.

Related digital regulation pages

The other digital regulation pages on this site:

Digital Regulation
SMS Designation and Conduct Requirements
Pro-Competition Interventions
Concurrent Competition Powers
Market Investigations and Studies
Merger Control in Digital Markets
Competition Enforcement and Litigation

Also see

The regime also engages Telecoms Regulation, Payments Regulation and Data Protection. Current developments are covered in Insights.