EU moves to designate AWS and Azure as gatekeepers under DMA

The European Commission said Thursday that Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act.digital-strategy.europa+1
The two providers control an estimated 70% of EU cloud infrastructure revenue and were found to be critical business gateways despite not meeting standard DMA thresholds.linkedin+1
Both companies can respond before a final ruling expected by year-end; noncompliance could trigger fines of up to 10% of global turnover, according to the Commission.morningstar+1

The European Commission on Thursday issued preliminary findings that Amazon Web Services Amazon.com, Inc. and Microsoft Azure should be designated as "gatekeepers" under the Digital Markets Act, a move that would extend the bloc's strictest digital competition rules into the cloud computing market for the first time.

Preliminary Findings

The Commission informed Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that their respective cloud services qualify as gatekeepers despite not meeting the DMA's standard quantitative thresholds for designation. The regulator found that AWS and Azure, the largest and second-largest cloud computing services in the EU, function as "an important gateway between businesses and their customers," according to the Commission's official announcement.digital-strategy.europa+1

The two U.S. tech giants control an estimated 70 percent of European cloud infrastructure revenue. The Commission cited their dominant market positions, revenues, operational capacity, and investments as having outpaced rivals, justifying the qualitative designation under Article 3(8) of the DMA.nexttechtoday+2

"Today, we take the preliminary view that Amazon's and Microsoft's respective cloud services, AWS and Azure, should fall under the DMA," the Commission stated.digital-strategy.europa

What Comes Next

The designation is not yet final. Amazon and Microsoft now have the right to review the Commission's documents and respond in writing before a definitive decision is made. If EU officials proceed with the designation, both companies would have six months to achieve full compliance with DMA obligations, with a final ruling expected by the end of 2026.thenextweb+2

Gatekeeper status would impose obligations including interoperability requirements, curbs on customer lock-in practices, restrictions on self-preferencing, and mandates for data portability. The regulatory push is expected to force an overhaul of cloud egress fees and require standardized APIs and documented interfaces. Non-compliance could trigger fines of up to 10 percent of global turnover, rising to 20 percent for repeated violations.linkedin+2

Expanding the DMA's Reach

The decision marks an expansion of the Digital Markets Act beyond consumer-facing technology platforms into the €220 billion European market for cloud services. The Commission launched the two market investigations on November 18, 2025, to assess whether the cloud providers warranted gatekeeper status even without meeting the law's user-count thresholds. Thursday's preliminary findings follow a seven-month probe that examined market dominance and lock-in effects across the sector.ciodive+3

Amazon and Microsoft are already designated as gatekeepers for other services under the DMA, but cloud computing had previously fallen outside the regulation's scope.morningstar

Sources (23)