European Union regulators on Wednesday ramped up their efforts to force Apple and Google to change key parts of their businesses, despite potential pushback from the Trump administration over the regulation of American tech companies.
The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, said Apple and Google had violated a law passed in 2022 that was intended to ensure fair competition in the digital economy.
The decisions add a new layer to geopolitical tensions between the United States and European Union on issues ranging from trade and tariffs to Ukraine and military defense.
The commission said a preliminary judgment had found that Google violated the 2022 law, the Digital Markets Act, by using its dominant search engine to steer users to other Google services, giving it an unfair advantage over other online companies. Regulators also accused the tech giant of unfair restrictions on its Google Play app store that limited the offers customers could receive from app developers.
Apple was told to make it easier for makers of headsets, smartwatches and other connected devices to sync with Apple’s iOS mobile operating system.
“Companies operating in the E.U., irrespective of their place of incorporation, must comply with E.U. rules, including the Digital Markets Act,” Teresa Ribera, the executive vice president of the European Commission in charge of competition policy, said in a statement. “With these decisions, we are simply implementing the law.”
The cases show that the European Union plans to continue its aggressive oversight of the biggest tech companies despite the tension with the United States. For years, regulators in Brussels have aimed at Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, X and others over their business practices and the content shared on their platforms. But some analysts have questioned whether the authorities would soften their stance to avoid creating more conflict with President Trump.
The Trump administration said in February that it would consider retaliating if the American companies were targeted under the Digital Markets Act.
Yet the administration has also not always been fully supportive of the big technology companies. The Justice Department this month reiterated its demand that Google be broken up because of antitrust violations, continuing a policy started under the Biden administration.
The announcements on Wednesday do not include any fines, but the companies could eventually face financial penalties if they do not make changes that satisfy regulators.
The actions taken against Apple and Google are some of the first enforcement steps taken under the Digital Markets Act, a law passed to give European regulators wider authority to force large tech companies to make changes to their products and services to make it easier for smaller companies to compete.
Companies have argued that the regulations slow down innovation in Europe. Apple has already delayed the release of some artificial intelligence features in Europe because of what it says are regulatory challenges.
“Today’s decisions wrap us in red tape, slowing down Apple’s ability to innovate for users in Europe and forcing us to give away our new features for free to companies who don’t have to play by the same rules,” Apple said in a statement.
Google said it had already made a number of changes to its search engine; its mobile operating system, Android; and its app store to comply with European laws.
“Today’s announcement by the European Commission pushes for more changes to Google Search, Android and Play that will hurt European businesses and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security, and degrade product quality,” the company said in a blog post.