Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Apple urged the European Union on Sept. 24 to revise the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), saying the legislation is hindering its ability to serve customers.

An Apple Store in Paris on Sept. 17, 2021. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

The company stated that users in the EU are experiencing delays in new features and facing increased privacy and security risks as a result of the legislation.

“It’s been more than a year since the Digital Markets Act was implemented,” Apple said in a statement. “Over that time, it’s become clear that the DMA is leading to a worse experience for Apple users in the EU.

“It’s exposing them to new risks, and disrupting the simple, seamless way their Apple products work together. And as new technologies come out, our European users’ Apple products will only fall further behind.”

Apple submitted its comments as the European Commission reviews the law, the first time the DMA has been assessed for its effectiveness. The commission, which acts as the 27-nation bloc’s executive branch, invited stakeholder feedback until Sept. 24 to help with the assessment.

According to the EU, the DMA is focused on regulating the gatekeeping power of the largest digital companies and ensuring fair and open digital markets, whether they are established within or outside the EU.

Companies can be fined by up to 10 percent of their annual worldwide revenue

for a first offense and up to 20 percent for repeat violations.

Apple called on the commission to reassess how the law was affecting EU citizens who use the company’s devices and services, saying it will continue to work to bring new features to market while still meeting the legal requirements placed upon it.

Among the issues the tech giant based in Cupertino, California, said the DMA had thrown up was the forced postponement of several features within the bloc, including iPhone mirroring to Mac and live translation with AirPods.

Apple also said location-based features in Apple Maps had to be delayed in the EU because the DMA requires certain features to work with non-Apple products and third-party developers before they are put on the market.

The company stated that it has still not found a way to comply with the act’s requirements without compromising user data, and that its proposed safeguards had been rejected by the commission.

“It’s become clear that we can’t solve every problem the DMA creates,” Apple stated. “Over time, it’s become clear that the DMA isn’t helping markets. It’s making it harder to do business in Europe.”

In June, Apple changed rules and fees in its EU App Store to comply with the bloc’s antitrust order, which requires large tech companies to open up their platforms to competitors.

Apple said this has led to a “riskier, less intuitive” experience for users and has introduced new threats such as scams and malware.

The company also said it has led to pornography apps appearing on the App Store, something Apple had previously banned.

Andrew Puzder is sworn in as U.S. ambassador to the EU by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with his wife, Deanna Puzder, beside him in the Oval Office on Aug. 20, 2025.  Courtesy of the White House

Apple’s submission to the commission came the same day that the U.S. ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, also criticized both the DMA and its sister legislation, the Digital Services Act, in comments to The Epoch Times.

“The way the law is written, it looks facially neutral because it says it applies to companies with over a certain level of revenue,“ Puzder said. ”But the reality is that those are primarily American companies, and so the regulations hit American companies hard.

“When a company like Facebook or Twitter or X has to change its algorithm, and that algorithm might impact the free speech rights of Americans, that’s something that we really can’t tolerate. I know [U.S. President Donald Trump] is not going to allow a foreign government to restrict the free speech rights of American citizens in ways that even our own government couldn’t restrict them.”

Earlier in September, Trump threatened to initiate a trade investigation to “nullify” fines imposed by the EU against U.S. tech giants, including Apple and Google.

He said the trade bloc was “effectively taking money that would otherwise go to American investments and jobs.”

The Epoch Times contacted the European Commission for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Kevin Stocklin contributed to this report.

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