European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager is urging legislators to get to “80% now” instead of “100% never.” Her comments come as debate threatens to delay EU Big Tech regulation.
Internal EU political squabbles have caused delays in large-scale legislation aimed at curbing anti-competitive growth of Big Tech firms, including Apple. Vestager urged the EU to quickly adopt the policies, even if they are not perfect.
The Irish Times reports that Vestager has suggested that the rules could be reviewed and reevaluated once they have been enacted.
“It’s important that everyone realizes that it is best to get 80 percent now than 100 percent never,” she said. “This is another way of saying that perfect should not be the enemy of very, very good.”
“We won’t let another 20 years pass before we may revisit [the legislation],” she continued. “With the parliament and the council’s position we can make a very strong rule book that can be enforceable soon.”
Vestager comments came ahead of the FT-ETNO Tech and Politics forum, an online conference, on November 29, 2021. The forum comes after close to a year of debate about the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
If enacted, the DMA would mean companies like Apple or Google could be required to cease anti-steering practices, which allegedly give their own products preferential treatment. The DSA would also decide how such companies could be held accountable for illegal or harmful content held on their services. There would also be a series of potential fines for noncompliance.
The legislation is apparently being hung up over a disagreement over what size companies it should apply to. Some want it to cover all digital works by any firm, while others propose a financial threshold that would target only the largest companies.
(Via AppleInsider)