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EU Threatens Apple With Ongoing Fines For Non-Compliance With DMA

By  |  May 29, 2025

One month after hitting Apple with a fine of €500 million ($569m) for failing to fully comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) the European Commission this week threatened additional penalties if the iPhone-maker does not act quickly to remedy its failure. The threat of ongoing, periodic fines is spelled out in the full text of the Commission’s decision released on Monday.

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    “In view of the seriousness of Apple’s non-compliance with Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2022/1925… the Commission concludes that it is necessary to impose periodic penalty payments… if Apple were to fail to implement measures that bring the infringement effectively to an end within 60 calendar days from the date of notification of this Decision,” the Commission said in its ruling.

    At issue is a ruling last year by the Commission that the DMA requires Apple to allow app developers to freely and easily direct users to payment systems outside of Apple’s App Store. The Cupertino tech giant has taken steps since then to loosen restrictions on non-Apple payment systems in the App Store and on in-app purchases. But the Commission found those steps to be insufficient, resulting in last month’s fine.

    Under Apple’s new policy, developers can include one external link per app to their own website, but must display a warning to users that they are leaving Apple’s privacy protections. Apple charges a 27% commission on outside purchases, rather than the 30% it takes on purchases through the App Store.

    Read more: Apple Faces New Class Action Over Alleged Defiance of App Store Injunction

    The €500 million fine on Apple marked only the second penalty imposed by the Commission under the DMA since it took effect in 2023. It previously fined Meta €200 million ($228m) for non-compliance. Apple contested the fine, but the Commission said in the text released this week that “Apple has not put forward any convincing arguments calling into question the serious gravity of the non-compliance.”

    In a statement issued to 9to5Mac, Apple said, “There is nothing in the 70-page decision released today that justifies the European Commission’s targeted actions against Apple, which threaten the privacy and security of our users in Europe and force us to give away our technology for free… The decision is bad for innovation, bad for competition, bad for our products, and bad for users.” The company added that it plans to appeal the ruling.

    The ruling did not specify the size of any additional fines, or a time table for when they could be levied, but said the amounts “should be sufficient to ensure compliance by Apple with this Decision and may take account of Apple’s significant financial resources.”

    The €500 million initial sum represents 0.14% of Apple’s €361 billion ($391b) global revenue, well below the 10% the DMA sets as the maximum penalty. According to the ruling, the sum of any additional fines would not exceed the 10% threshold.