European parliament backs ‘historic’ reboot to EU’s digital rulebook

The European Parliament has given a final stamp of approval to two major pieces of regulation which will update the EU’s rules for digital businesses.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) will introduce new ‘ex ante’ competition rules for gatekeeping tech giants to ensure markets are fair and open; and the Digital Services Act (DSA), which applies more broadly — to services and platforms both large and small — will set governance rules around the handling of illegal content and products, as well as dialling up broader accountability on larger platforms which have extra responsibilities under the framework.

The incoming regulations were proposed by the Commission at the end of 2020 so adoption has been swift — reflecting broad consensus by lawmakers around the bloc on the need for tougher and tighter rules for online services.

The regulations are expected to start applying early next year after the formal adoption process is completed. Today’s plenary vote of the parliament follows political agreement on the two files reached between the EU’s co-legislators earlier this year — back in March for the DMA; and April for the DSA.

You can read our earlier coverage of those political deals — which is the core of what the parliament has confirmed its backing for today — here:

The European Commission, which drafted the laws, welcomed the parliament’s formal adoption of the files — with internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, dubbing the “landslide” vote “historic“.

The parliament voted 588 in favor of the DMA; while 539 MEPs backed the DSA.