EU pushes forward with Apple antitrust investigation despite Trump's criticisms

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In the interest of what it calls fairness and stability, the European Union has decided to push forth with anti-trade investigations into companies like Apple, Meta, and X, hoping to reach a conclusion by March.

Wooden gavel with metallic band poised above a round sound block featuring a bitten apple logo, symbolizing a legal context involving Apple.
EU set to issue ruling on Apple in March



In January, the EU had initially held off on fining tech giants as it waited to find out the impact of the incoming Trump administration. Now it appears as though the plan is to continue business as usual.

Teresa Ribera, the EU's competition chief, has told Reuters that, while it's open to negotiations with the White House, it will not be bullied into changing laws at the whim of US policymakers.

"We need to stick to our strengths and principles," she said in an interview on Monday. "We need to be flexible but we cannot transact on human rights nor are we going to transact on the unity of Europe, and we are not going to transact on democracy and values."

Trump, for his part, believes that the European Union has too many rules, claiming that the fines imposed on US tech companies by the EU are essentially taxation.

In March 2024, the EU launched mass DMA violation probes against Apple, Google, and Meta. It claimed that it had reason to believe the companies were failing to comply with the laws outlined in the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Regarding Apple, the EU was concerned that the Cupertino-based tech giant violated laws in three key areas. This included violating anti-steering rules concerning the App Store, third-party browser support, and the new fee structure put in place for third-party app marketplaces.

Apple has made efforts to bring some of these areas into compliance. For instance, in August, Apple simplified the process for EU users to choose alternative apps to Apple's default ones.

Whether or not its efforts will be viewed as sufficient remains to be seen. The year-long investigation is now set to wrap up, with Ribera announcing that the decisions on Apple and Meta will be announced in March.

"There will be decisions along the lines that have been discussed with the companies, developed and based on evidence," she said.

It's worth noting that the EU is also investigating X for separate concerns. The commission is concerned whether or not the platform violates the regions rules regarding illegal content. Ribera says that Musk's role in the Trump administration will not influence the EU's decision.

Before Trump's second term, the EU did not shy away from enforcing the DMA and doling out fines as it saw fit. In March 2024, it fined Apple $2 billion for anticompetitive practice with Apple Music -- despite Apple's streaming service being far from dominant.

In 2023, Apple launched the iPhone 15, the first of Apple's iPhones to feature USB-C charging. The change was made to comply with a DMA rule aimed at reducing the number of proprietary chargers on the market.

While Apple appears to have followed EU regulations with practically surgical precision, its rivals have described it as doing so with malicious compliance. Epic Games said Apple's EU concessions were "hot garbage."

Apple, for its part, has maintained that its done enough to comply with DMA law. It hasn't done so quietly, though, as it published a whitepaper detailing the risks of third-party app stores. It then published another whitepaper addressing its concerns regarding the EU's interoperability laws.

Victories against EU regulations have been rare for Apple. However, last November the EU dropped a four-year-long investigation into Apple's treatment of rival audiobook developers after the initial complaint was withdrawn.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    ssfe11ssfe11 Posts: 193member
    You will quickly see the EU quickly drop their tough talk and bullying once the Trump Administration starts to bully EU companies doing business over here. Spotify will be the first to panic and start calling EU executives pleading for them to stop the strong arming tactics and they will. 
    mattinozwilliamlondontiredskillswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 2 of 15
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,327member
    Apple's efforts in 'negotiating' in this case have been similar to Trump's in some ways.

    Propose something you know will get extreme push back, evaluate the push back and try again with something equally bad and see if that passes the sniff test. Inch by inch. 

    In this example, 'malicious compliance' is very apt and entirely deliberate. 

    That's where we are now. Waiting for the EU to say if Apple's most recent proposals (from last year) do actually pass the sniff test or not. 

    IMO, they don't. The Core Technology Fee is my guess at where things might fall short and if that happens a fine will be imposed. That is the risk of surgical precision with compliance. If you miss, things go south quickly. The results of compliance evaluation were always set for next month so they are on schedule. We'll see. 

    As for Trump, well, after this weekend's events the US has now lost any remaining good faith that was left within the EU. 

    The EU is absolutely fuming and with good reason. 

    He moans that the EU sells a lot of food in the US and that the EU refuses a lot of US food. 

    That's because that food isn't up to snuff under EU regulations. Compliance again. 

    The EU makes the rules and they must be complied with. Like them or not. 

    It's the same for Apple. The EU is a 'Walled Garden' of sorts but the door to leave is always open. 


    muthuk_vanalingamssfe11jibsirdirsphericmattinoztiredskillswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 3 of 15
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,845member
    The Trump administration's position on Ukraine clarifies that Trump is more aligned with Putin than NATO and the NATO countries are figuring that out. Europe needs to rearm and push back on the Trump administration hard, along every dimension possible. 

    The challenge for Europe is that it's not entirely clear that there really is anything called "Europe," nor is it clear that "Europeans" (if they exist) care about democracy any more than Trump voters do. 

    We shall see! 
    thtnubusentropysgatorguymattinozirwinmauricewatto_cobra
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  • Reply 4 of 15
    ssfe11ssfe11 Posts: 193member
    There’s no way Trump will allow the EU to bully American companies anymore ,  especially Apple, to give their Eu companies an unfair advantage. Trump already acknowledged Apple 13b excessive fine and that the EU is not treating American companies fairly. The gloves are off. Do nothing Biden is out. The EU is in for an awakening. 
    blastdoorentropyssphericwilliamlondondanoxtiredskillswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 5 of 15
    sirdirsirdir Posts: 214member
    I hope they keep getting fined until you can install on your iPhone whatever you want, without notarization by Apple and without the seller of the all having to pay a single cent to Apple.
    ssfe11entropysblastdoorjayweisswilliamlondonAnObserverirwinmauriceericthehalfbeedanoxwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 6 of 15
    Nobody is obliged to buy Apple phones. If you want all garbage on your phone buy Android.. and as bonus is cheaper too!
    ssfe11danoxwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 7 of 15
    avon b7 said: In this example, 'malicious compliance' is very apt and entirely deliberate. 
    The EU didn't provide any specifics on how DMA compliant app stores should be set up on iOS. They left it up to Apple to fill in the blanks. That's a situation where malicious compliance makes no sense as a criticism. Apple complied with the general requirement and filled in the blanks on the specifics. And now the EU wants to belatedly supply their own specifics.
    ssfe11ericthehalfbeedanoxwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 8 of 15
    sirdir said:
    I hope they keep getting fined until you can install on your iPhone whatever you want, without notarization by Apple and without the seller of the all having to pay a single cent to Apple.
    Go buy an Android Phone and get out of the Apple world. You don’t deserve to be part of it. 
    williamlondonssfe11danoxtiredskillswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 9 of 15
    Like everything in life, there are multiple views on the EU and their regulations - Some are good and some are terrible - The issue I have with the massive fine the placed on Apple for the tex issue in Ireland was that they retrospectively prosecuted Apple for what a country (Ireland) had done in setting up it's tax rules to attract business to the country - Apple did absolutely nothing wrong in this area and complied with every rule Ireland set them - they made massive investments in the country, and received a fair reward. The EU fined Apple - not Ireland - that is absolutely crazy and completely wrong. The USA should hold the EU to account for that as it is totally unjust.

    On the other stuff - Apple does not have a monopoly on apps - there are plenty of options open to consumers - people who decide to buy Apple products do so because of quality, security, privacy and the ecosystem safety - for the EU to dictate that should change is just plain wrong and it is just a form of taxation - again the USA should push back on the EU on this.

    In some other areas, such as privacy laws - I think the EU is ahead of the USA - also on harmful content and in this areas I think they are more right than wrong.
    thtdewmewatto_cobra
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  • Reply 10 of 15
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,327member
    Kwikiwi said:
    Like everything in life, there are multiple views on the EU and their regulations - Some are good and some are terrible - The issue I have with the massive fine the placed on Apple for the tex issue in Ireland was that they retrospectively prosecuted Apple for what a country (Ireland) had done in setting up it's tax rules to attract business to the country - Apple did absolutely nothing wrong in this area and complied with every rule Ireland set them - they made massive investments in the country, and received a fair reward. The EU fined Apple - not Ireland - that is absolutely crazy and completely wrong. The USA should hold the EU to account for that as it is totally unjust.

    On the other stuff - Apple does not have a monopoly on apps - there are plenty of options open to consumers - people who decide to buy Apple products do so because of quality, security, privacy and the ecosystem safety - for the EU to dictate that should change is just plain wrong and it is just a form of taxation - again the USA should push back on the EU on this.

    In some other areas, such as privacy laws - I think the EU is ahead of the USA - also on harmful content and in this areas I think they are more right than wrong.
    Apple was given what some call a 'sweetheart' deal by the Irish government. That was deemed illegal state aid and Ireland had to recover it from Apple. 

    The EU didn't fine Apple. 

    Was the 0.005% rate for 2014 just or unjust? 

    Was Apple, effectively being able to decide what it made available for taxation, just or unjust? 
    muthuk_vanalingamrundhvidsphericgatorguywatto_cobra
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  • Reply 11 of 15
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,887member
    The conclusions are preordained……..
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 12 of 15
    The EU doesn't like monopolies - Unless they are European....
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 13 of 15
    A cornerstone of the European market is the "level playing field". Yes, in recent years tariffs have been introduced to prevent outsiders from benefitting from a "tilted playing field" (I have never seen that expression used). Americans may recognize a "level playing field" as included in an expression that should be dear to all of them: "freedom and justice for all".

    To me (Dutch), the idea of a "level playing field" is great, along with other concepts of the European project, including diversity and food safety. But yes, it may well be attractive to entrepreneurs to try to turn the protection of the "level playing field" into a means of keeping competition out.
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 14 of 15
    dewmedewme Posts: 6,098member
    I think it’s too easy to get into tunnel vision mode on these  issues. We really need to ask the question: Should the US government, which is a proxy for American taxpayers to some extent, get involved when American companies get into trouble with their foreign investments? 

    To a great extent these tax haven deals are intended to reduce the American company's tax burden to their home country, i.e., as an American taxpayer. They are also avoiding paying the higher salaries, wages, and insurance costs associated with paying to have the required work, including labor, performed domestically versus outsourcing the work to lower cost-of-living and lower quality-of-life countries and regions. 

    Of course I fully recognize the other side of the equation regarding investors and the domestic economy that thrives on US companies contributing to the American economy as well as the lower product costs to American consumers. 

    All I’m saying is that there are multiple perspectives related to these scenarios whether or not we choose to ignore some or all of them. Did Ireland lure Apple into investing there with the assumption that both Apple and Ireland would mutually benefit from the deal? Now that Ireland falls under the oversight of the EU it sounds like the EU didn’t agree with the way the deal was set up between Apple and Ireland. As a side note, Apple is far from being the only US company to take advantage of these offshore deals. A major US manufacturer built a sprawling new "world headquarters, near me, a sprawling industrial palace that towers over the surrounding landscape. When it was finished they moved their headquarters to Ireland. The palatial structure still shines brightly but it isn't their official headquarters. For all I know their official headquarters is in a quonset hut somewhere in Ireland next to a bank.

    Still, from my perspective Apple seems to be paying a disproportionate share of this "good deal gone bad" by way of EU legislation. Should we feel bad for Apple or treat this as a diss against Apple, and further a diss against the US and its economic interests? Apple has some very big boys running their business and those folks wearing the big boy pants are ultimately responsible for making sure they don’t come out on the bad end of these deals and ultimately harm their stakeholders. At the same time is it really the responsibility of the US government and US taxpayers to weigh in on the outcome? No doubt that there is a lot of nationalism affecting this situation on all sides, so that muddies the waters too. There's the old adage that if it looks too good to be true, it very well might not be true.

    We’ll see how this plays out, but I think it’s useful for everyone to understand that this isn’t a one-sided situation. 
    edited February 19
    sphericwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 15 of 15
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,887member
    A cornerstone of the European market is the "level playing field". Yes, in recent years tariffs have been introduced to prevent outsiders from benefitting from a "tilted playing field" (I have never seen that expression used). Americans may recognize a "level playing field" as included in an expression that should be dear to all of them: "freedom and justice for all".

    To me (Dutch), the idea of a "level playing field" is great, along with other concepts of the European project, including diversity and food safety. But yes, it may well be attractive to entrepreneurs to try to turn the protection of the "level playing field" into a means of keeping competition out.

    What would be more attractive to me as an American is if Phillips had not given up in so many areas in tech, and the same also applies to the English group that sold Arm to the Japanese, the Europeans problem in tech is internal within the EU in short, the person in the mirror, government sanctions, fines, and tariffs won’t work and that also applies to a similar strategy the White House in America is using if you want to compete, you have to roll up your sleeves and design a better mouse trap. There are no shortcuts. Most things worth doing take hard work and many years that’s what ASML did.
    dewmewatto_cobra
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