The EU has announced it is investigating Apple, Meta and Google's compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
If the Big Tech companies are found to have breached the regulation that aims to make the digital economy fairer and more contestable, they will have to pay hefty fines that could total up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on Monday (25.03.24), EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager said: "We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA.
"We will now investigate the companies' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe."
It comes after the EU recently fined Apple €1.8 billion (£1.5 billion) for breaking competition laws over music streaming.
Spotify prompted the response after slamming its rival for its control of payments and 30 per cent fee on the App Store.
Vestager accused Apple of preventing "developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem."
She declared: "This is illegal under EU antitrust rules."
Apple vowed to appeal the case.
The Tim Cook-led firm said: "The decision was reached despite the Commission's failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.
"The primary advocate for this decision, and the biggest beneficiary, is Spotify, a company based in Stockholm, Sweden.
"Spotify has the largest music streaming app in the world, and has met with the EC [European Commission] more than 65 times during this investigation."
