By Supantha Mukherjee and Alessandro Parodi
(Reuters) -The European Commission has launched three market investigations on cloud computing services by Amazon and Microsoft under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to curb the power of Big Tech and ensure a level playing field for smaller rivals.
It opened two probes to assess if the companies should be designated as gatekeepers for their cloud services, and a third investigation to assess if the DMA can effectively tackle anticompetitive practices
in the cloud computing sector.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest cloud provider globally followed by Microsoft's Azure and Alphabet's Google Cloud.
The move by the European Commission comes amid tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump who has sided with U.S. tech giants lobbying against EU regulations. That has in turn triggered concerns that the EU watchdog may ease up on Big Tech.
"We will also look at whether the DMA’s existing rules need to be updated so Europe can keep pace with fast-evolving practices in the cloud sector," EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
While a Microsoft spokesperson said the company was ready to contribute to the enquiry, an AWS spokesperson said "designating cloud providers as gatekeepers isn't worth the risks of stifling invention or raising costs for European companies."
If the Commission's investigation finds that the services qualify as important gateways under the DMA, they would be added to the list of core platform services for which Amazon and Microsoft are already designated as gatekeepers.
Under the European Union's DMA, which came into force in 2022, companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a 75-billion-euro ($86.87 billion) market capitalisation are considered gatekeepers providing a core platform service.
Companies labelled as such will be required to make their services interoperate with rivals and are not allowed to favour their own services over rivals'. Companies can be fined up to 10% of annual global turnover for DMA violations.
The Commission said it aimed to conclude the investigations within 12 months.
($1 = 0.8633 euros)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Susan Fenton)
