Interoperability by Design or Denial? The Digital Markets Act's Notion of Vertical Interoperability

Abstract

The Digital Markets Act (DMA)1 reshapes competition policy in the European Union by prioritising contestability and fairness in digital markets. A crucial aspect of this regulatory shift is the enforcement of vertical interoperability obligations under Article 6(7) DMA. This paper critically examines the European Commission’s preliminary findings on Apple’s implementation of these requirements, focusing on the two specification proceedings the Commission has recently launched (Cases DMA.100203 and DMA.100204).The analysis highlights the Commission’s efforts to ensure effective interoperability through a multi-dimensional approach, encompassing technical, syntactic, semantic, and organisational aspects. The paper evaluates the legal and practical implications of Apple’s compliance measures to flesh out the broader concept of effective interoperability embedded in the DMA. In doing so, the paper identifies several legal principles which inspire an equivalence of input regime designed by the regulator.

Keywords: Vertical interoperability, Digital Markets Act, Specification Proceedings