Brussels opens three DMA investigations into AWS and Azure cloud

2025-11-18 · Publisher : Commission européenne · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

The Commission opens three market investigations under the DMA: two to determine whether AWS and Microsoft Azure should be designated gatekeepers, one to check whether the DMA is fit for cloud practices.

### Background On 18 November 2025, the European Commission opens **three market investigations into cloud computing** under the Digital Markets Act (**DMA**). Two of them examine whether **Amazon Web Services** and **Microsoft Azure** should be designated gatekeepers, even though they do not reach the automatic quantitative thresholds. The third assesses whether the DMA is fit for anticompetitive practices in cloud. ### Key facts - The Commission aims to conclude within twelve months. - A designation would subject AWS and Azure to interoperability and non-discrimination obligations; DMA fines can reach 10% of worldwide turnover. - Teresa Ribera, EU competition chief, says the Commission will assess whether the DMA's existing rules need to be updated to keep pace with "fast-evolving practices in the cloud sector". - Microsoft says it is ready to cooperate; AWS argues that designating cloud providers as gatekeepers is not worth the risks to innovation and costs. - Google withdrew its complaint about Microsoft licensing on 28 November 2025, considering the matter handled by this new process. ### Why it matters The opening adds the DMA to the tools already in place: the Data Act for switching, DORA for financial customers. For CIOs, a designation would bring interoperability and portability obligations for AWS and Azure, hence new negotiating arguments. It also makes cloud, and no longer only social networks, a field of application of the DMA. ### Takeaway In November 2025, cloud enters the scope of the Commission's DMA investigations.

Tags : Réglementation, Hyperscaler, Europe, AWS, Azure