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Chapter III – Practices of Gatekeepers that limit contestability or are unfair (Art. 5-15)

Art. 5 DMA - Obligations for gatekeepers arrow_right_alt

Art. 6 DMA - Obligations for gatekeepers susceptible of being further specified under Article 8 arrow_right_alt

Art. 7 DMA - Obligation for gatekeepers on interoperability of number-independent interpersonal communications services arrow_right_alt

Art. 8 DMA - Compliance with obligations for gatekeepers arrow_right_alt

  1. The gatekeeper shall ensure and demonstrate compliance with the obligations laid down in Articles 5, 6 and 7 of this Regulation. The measures implemented by the gatekeeper to ensure compliance with those Articles shall be effective in achieving the objectives of this Regulation and of the relevant obligation. The gatekeeper shall ensure that the implementation of those measures complies with applicable law, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Directive 2002/58/EC, legislation on cyber security, consumer protection, product safety, as well as with the accessibility requirements.
  2. The Commission may, on its own initiative or at the request of a gatekeeper pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article, open proceedings pursuant to Article 20.

The Commission may adopt an implementing act, specifying the measures that the gatekeeper concerned is to implement in order to effectively comply with the obligations laid down in Articles 6 and 7. That implementing act shall be adopted within 6 months from the opening of proceedings pursuant to Article 20 in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 50(2).

When opening proceedings on its own initiative for circumvention pursuant to Article 13, such measures may concern the obligations laid down in Articles 5, 6 and 7.

  1. A gatekeeper may request the Commission to engage in a process to determine whether the measures that that gatekeeper intends to implement or has implemented to ensure compliance with Articles 6 and 7 are effective in achieving the objective of the relevant obligation in the specific circumstances of the gatekeeper. The Commission shall have discretion in deciding whether to engage in such a process, respecting the principles of equal treatment, proportionality and good administration.

In its request, the gatekeeper shall provide a reasoned submission to explain the measures that it intends to implement or has implemented. The gatekeeper shall furthermore provide a non-confidential version of its reasoned submission that may be shared with third parties pursuant to paragraph 6.

  1. Paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article are without prejudice to the powers of the Commission under Articles 29, 30 and 31.
  2. With a view of adopting the decision under paragraph 2, the Commission shall communicate its preliminary findings to the gatekeeper within 3 months from the opening of the proceedings under Article 20. In the preliminary findings, the Commission shall explain the measures that it is considering taking or that it considers the gatekeeper concerned should take in order to effectively address the preliminary findings.
  3. In order to effectively enable interested third parties to provide comments, the Commission shall, when communicating its preliminary findings to the gatekeeper pursuant to paragraph 5 or as soon as possible thereafter, publish a non-confidential summary of the case and the measures that it is considering taking or that it considers the gatekeeper concerned should take. The Commission shall specify a reasonable timeframe within which such comments are to be provided.
  4. In specifying the measures under paragraph 2, the Commission shall ensure that the measures are effective in achieving the objectives of this Regulation and the relevant obligation, and proportionate in the specific circumstances of the gatekeeper and the relevant service.
  5. For the purposes of specifying the obligations under Article 6(11) and (12), the Commission shall also assess whether the intended or implemented measures ensure that there is no remaining imbalance of rights and obligations on business users and that the measures do not themselves confer an advantage on the gatekeeper which is disproportionate to the service provided by the gatekeeper to business users.
  6. In respect of proceedings pursuant to paragraph 2, the Commission may, upon request or on its own initiative, decide to reopen them where:
    1. there has been a material change in any of the facts on which the decision was based; or
    2. the decision was based on incomplete, incorrect or misleading information; or
    3. the measures as specified in the decision are not effective.
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  • 65
  • 89

Recital 65

To ensure the effectiveness of the obligations laid down by this Regulation, while also making certain that those obligations are limited to what is necessary to ensure contestability and tackling the harmful effects of the unfair practices by gatekeepers, it is important to clearly define and circumscribe them so as to allow the gatekeeper to fully comply with them, whilst fully complying with applicable law, and in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive 2002/58/EC and legislation on consumer protection, cyber security, product safety and accessibility requirements, including Directive (EU) 2019/882 and Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1). The gatekeepers should ensure the compliance with this Regulation by design. Therefore, the necessary measures should be integrated as much as possible into the technological design used by the gatekeepers.

It may in certain cases be appropriate for the Commission, following a dialogue with the gatekeeper concerned and after enabling third parties to make comments, to further specify some of the measures that the gatekeeper concerned should adopt in order to effectively comply with obligations that are susceptible of being further specified or, in the event of circumvention, with all obligations. In particular, such further specification should be possible where the implementation of an obligation susceptible to being further specified can be affected by variations of services within a single category of core platform services. For this purpose, it should be possible for the gatekeeper to request the Commission to engage in a process whereby the Commission can further specify some of the measures that the gatekeeper concerned should adopt in order to effectively comply with those obligations.

The Commission should have discretion as to whether and when such further specification should be provided, while respecting the principles of equal treatment, proportionality, and good administration. In this respect, the Commission should provide the main reasons underlying its assessment, including any enforcement priorities. This process should not be used to undermine the effectiveness of this Regulation. Furthermore, this process is without prejudice to the powers of the Commission to adopt a decision establishing non-compliance with any of the obligations laid down in this Regulation by a gatekeeper, including the possibility to impose fines or periodic penalty payments. The Commission should be able to reopen proceedings, including where the specified measures turn out not to be effective. A reopening due to an ineffective specification adopted by decision should enable the Commission to amend the specification prospectively. The Commission should also be able to set a reasonable time period within which the proceedings can be reopened if the specified measures turn out not to be effective.


(1)Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (OJ L 327, 2.12.2016, p. 1).

Recital 89

When preparing non-confidential summaries for publication in order to effectively enable interested third parties to provide comments, the Commission should give due regard to the legitimate interest of undertakings in the protection of their business secrets and other confidential information.

Art. 9 DMA - Suspension arrow_right_alt

Art. 10 DMA - Exemption for grounds of public health and public security arrow_right_alt

Art. 11 DMA - Reporting arrow_right_alt

Art. 12 DMA - Updating obligations for gatekeepers arrow_right_alt

Art. 13 DMA - Anti-circumvention arrow_right_alt

Art. 14 DMA - Obligation to inform about concentrations arrow_right_alt

Art. 15 DMA - Obligation of an audit arrow_right_alt