ENPA, which represents European press publishers, and EMMA, which represents Europe’s magazine media, have welcomed the provisional agreement between the Council of the EU and the EU Parliament on the DMA (see item under General), which it says will be of “crucial importance to restore fair competition on digital markets”. In particular, ENPA and EMMA welcome the agreement to extend to “gatekeepers” the obligation to apply fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory access conditions to their business users.

The ENPA president, Jean-Pierre de Kerraoul, said: “We thank the co-legislators and in particular the European Parliament for extending the obligation to apply non-discriminatory and fair access conditions to Google and Facebook. This has the potential of becoming an historic step for the future of a free and sustainable press in the digital age.”

The EMMA president, Xavier Bouckaert, said: “Speedy, reliable and consistent enforcement is now of utmost importance. The role of the European Commission will be fundamental for the enforcement of the DMA and to counter the efforts of the gatekeepers to deviate from their obligations.”

However, ENPA and EMMA consider that imposing an obligation of non-discriminatory and fair access to search engines, social networks and app stores should be a first step only, as other equally powerful gatekeeper platforms are not currently captured by the new provision. This means there is a risk that the DMA may not achieve its goals across the digital economy, which is constantly evolving, with gatekeepers continually inventing new ways to favour their own products or imposing unfair conditions on others. To read the ENPA and EMMA press release in full, click here.