The European Commission has announced the launch of three separate investigations into Amazon and Microsoft's cloud services, triggering the Digital Markets (DMA). The new regulation, designed to curb monopolistic practices and ensure fairer competition, now delves deep into the strategic cloud computing market.
Two of the investigations focus on whether the two American giants should be characterized as gatekeepers for their cloud services, while the third attempts to assess whether the DMA itself has the power to address practices that limit healthy competition in this rapidly growing sector.
AWS dominance and the broader cloud map
Amazon Web Services continues to lead the global cloud market, with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud following in second and third place respectively. The Commission's decision to focus on these players is not surprising: their market share, infrastructure investments and continued penetration in key areas – from enterprise platforms to artificial intelligence – make them extremely crucial for Europe's digital strategy.
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But Brussels' move comes at a time of political tension. US President Donald Trump has publicly expressed support for big US tech companieswhile frequently attacking European regulatory initiatives. This creates a complex geopolitical backdrop for European authorities, who are trying to maintain a tough stance without undermining fragile transatlantic balances.
Reactions: Compliance or concern?
Commissioner Teresa Riberasaid the EU is looking not only at companies' practices but also at whether the DMA needs to be updated to keep pace with the rapid developments in the cloud market. Her comments underscore a broader concern: the regulation must remain functional in a space where technology and business models change almost every quarter.
, on the other hand, said it would actively contribute to the process, adopting a more conciliatory tone. In contrast, AWS was noticeably more cautious, warning that excessive regulation could slow innovation and increase costs for European cloud-based businesses – an argument the company has repeatedly used against legislative initiatives worldwide.
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What does the term “gatekeeper” mean in practice?
If the investigations conclude that Amazon and Microsoft's cloud services should be added to the list of "core platform services," the two companies would be subject to much stricter rules. The DMA stipulates that a gatekeeper:
- must allow interoperability with competing services,
- cannot favor its own products at the expense of third parties,
- is required to provide greater transparency in its algorithms and trading practices.
Violations can lead to fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover – an amount that for companies like Amazon and Microsoft translates into billions of euros.
Why the cloud is so critical for Europe
Cloud computing is the backbone of Europe's digital transition: from public services to research centers and from small businesses to artificial intelligence systems. However, dependence on a few providers creates imbalances that the EU wants to correct.
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In recent years, smaller European providers have accused the US giants of anti-competitive pricing strategies and locked-down services that make it difficult to move data from one cloud to another. The completion of the investigations – which are expected to take 12 months – will be a crucial turning point for the direction of European policy.
A rapidly changing sector
The cloud is no longer just a place to store or manage data. It is directly involved in artificial intelligence technologies, cybersecurity services, edge computing infrastructures, and specialized architectures for large-scale machine learning models. This means that any regulation affects not only the cloud market, but the entire technology ecosystem for the next decade.
With Europe seeking greater digital sovereignty and the US protecting its technological interests, the development of the investigations is expected to be one of the most important chapters in the ongoing clash for control of the digital economy.
