Commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager previously stated that the antitrust legislation could be implemented as early as October of this year

The European Union aims to begin enforcing the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in spring 2023, Commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager announced at the International Competition Network (ICN) conference last week, as first reported by TechCrunch.

Vestager previously stated that the antitrust legislation, which introduces a new set of rules to curb the power of Big Tech, could be implemented as early as October of this year.

The DMA will enter into force next spring and we are getting ready for enforcement as soon as the first notifications come in, Vestager said during her speech at the ICN.

As noted by TechCrunch, Vestager suggests that the Commission will be prepared to act against any violations made by ‘gatekeepers’ — a classification that includes Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon — as soon as the laws come into force.

The DMA, which still needs final approval from the Council and Parliament, defines gatekeepers as companies that have a market capitalization of over €75 billion ($82 billion) and own a social platform or app that has at least 45 million monthly users.

These entities can face fines of ‘up to 10 percent of its total worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year’ if found in violation of the DMA’s rules, a fee that could increase to 20 percent in the case of a repeat offense.

In accordance with the DMA, gatekeepers will have three months to declare their status to the Commission, followed by an up to two-month wait period to receive confirmation from the EU. This wait period, coupled with the delayed DMA enforcement, could mean that we won’t start seeing any real battles between the EU and Big Tech until the end of 2023.