On November 18, 2025, the European Commission opened three market investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into the cloud services of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, assessing whether the companies should be designated as gatekeepers.
November 18, 2025 · European Commission
Brussels Turns the DMA on the Cloud — AWS and Azure in the Crosshairs
The EU launched three market investigations to decide whether Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should be designated as "gatekeepers" — the first substantive attempt to apply the Digital Markets Act to cloud computing.
3
market investigations — 2 on AWS/Azure designation, 1 on existing rules
12mo
to conclude the probes, in principle
6mo
to comply, if a gatekeeper designation lands
From investigation to obligation — the path
1 · Probe
Are AWS & Azure "important gateways"?
→
2 · Designation
Possible gatekeeper status confirmed
→
3 · Obligations
DMA Art. 5 & 6 — no self-preferencing, data access
Practices under review
Interoperability barriers
Data access restrictions
Service bundling
Imbalanced contract terms
High egress fees and low interoperability create vendor lock-in , discouraging multi-cloud use — the core concern regulators want to address.
EXPECTATION
Tighter rules could improve interoperability and make multi-cloud adoption easier for businesses.
SKEPTICISM
Industry warns the approach leaves wide room for interpretation and leans on after-the-fact penalties in a complex field.
Why it matters: The DMA (adopted 2022) had so far excluded cloud. Because the cloud underpins AI and enterprise systems, the outcome could reshape how major providers operate across Europe.
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