Overview
- The European Commission, which issued a preliminary assessment on Thursday, June 25, 2026, found that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure likely meet the Digital Markets Act gatekeeper criteria.
- The DMA lets regulators name firms as gatekeepers when they are economically strong, have a major impact on the EU market and operate across multiple member states.
- Brussels flagged market concentration and the growing role of cloud for AI as reasons for the move, noting US providers control roughly two‑thirds of the EU cloud market and that AWS leads with Azure close behind.
- Microsoft and AWS said they will keep talking with the Commission while warning that strict rules could slow investment and innovation in Europe.
- If formally designated later in 2026, the firms would face enforcement steps such as requirements to ease data portability, guarantee interoperability and stop preferring their own services, with a likely compliance period after a final decision.