The European Commission is moving to formally designate Amazon and Microsoft as cloud gatekeepers under EU competition law.
The Commission has signaled it plans to apply gatekeeper status to both companies in the cloud category under the Digital Markets Act. The DMA creates enforceable obligations for designated platforms — requirements around interoperability, data portability, and fair treatment of the business customers who depend on their services. A formal designation would give Brussels new leverage over how Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure operate within the EU.
Cloud infrastructure is not the flashiest target for regulators, but it may be the most consequential. The companies that control cloud compute, storage, and networking also underpin much of the rest of the digital economy — making behavioral rules here potentially more significant than restrictions placed on consumer-facing products.
Whether the Commission moves quickly to a formal decision — or gets bogged down in the notification and objection process that has slowed DMA enforcement in other areas — will determine how much of this actually bites.