Apple in last-minute App Store negotiations to avoid EU fines

Apple is in urgent talks with EU regulators to modify its App Store and dodge escalating fines set to begin this week. The $3 trillion company, previously fined €500 million for violating the EU’s Digital Markets Act, is negotiating with the European Commission to comply with the law.
Barbara Moens for Financial Times:
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People involved in the negotiations said Apple was expected to offer concessions on its “steering” provisions that stop users accessing offers outside the App Store.
Regulators ordered the Silicon Valley company to revise its rules within two months of its initial €500mn fine, with the deadline for the company to comply with the bloc’s rules in order to avoid new levies expiring on Thursday. Those financial penalties can escalate over time and reach up to 5 per cent of average daily worldwide revenue.
According to those with knowledge of the talks, Apple is expected to announce some concessions that buy the company more time, as the commission would first assess those changes before making a final decision…
The upcoming decision comes as US President Donald Trump is visiting Europe for a Nato summit in The Hague this week and as Brussels and Washington are nearing a July 9 deadline to agree on a trade deal.
The EU’s rules on Big Tech are a big flashpoint between Brussels and Trump, who has previously compared the EU’s fines with “overseas extortion” and called them a “form of taxation”.

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MacDailyNews Take: The U.S. has leverage and recourse. We expect both to be used.
Trump administration has been warning the EU against excessive regulation of American technology firms. On February 21st, President Trump issued a directive, “Defending American Companies and Innovators From Overseas Extortion and Unfair Fines and Penalties,” threatening to impose tariffs on Europe to combat what he called “overseas extortion” of American tech companies through digital services taxes, fines, practices, and policies.
See also: President Trump says Apple CEO Tim Cook called to complain about EU’s $17 billion in fines – October 17, 2024
The European Union arose because the Europeans couldn’t compete on their own with the rest of the world, so they each lined up to surrender their national sovereignty, unique cultures, and dignity for an undemocratic, opaque, wasteful, bloated, bureaucratic quasi-governmental blob – and, even with the EU’s thumbs all over the scale, they still can’t compete. — MacDailyNews, March 4, 2024

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