EU preliminarily moves to classify Amazon and Microsoft cloud services under Digital Markets Act
The Facts
- The European Commission has preliminarily concluded that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers under the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
- The assessment concerns the companies’ cloud computing services, AWS and Azure.
- The Commission said Azure and AWS are the largest and second-largest cloud computing services in the EU.
- EU regulators said the services should be covered by the DMA because of their scale, including substantial turnover and operational capacity and investment that appear to exceed those of competitors.
- The finding is preliminary, and Amazon and Microsoft can review the Commission’s conclusions and submit written arguments before the EU decides whether to confirm the designation.
- If the gatekeeper designation is confirmed, Amazon and Microsoft would have six months to bring AWS and Azure into compliance with DMA obligations.
- The move would extend the EU’s DMA oversight into cloud infrastructure, a sector sources describe as increasingly important for business customers and for AI-related demand.
- The preliminary findings followed a market investigation that began in November 2025 and lasted about seven months.
Context
What does the EU’s preliminary decision do?
It signals that the European Commission believes AWS and Azure should be treated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act, which would place their cloud services under the DMA’s competition rules if the decision is finalized infobae,Reuters,CNA.
Why are AWS and Azure being considered for this designation?
The Commission said the two services are the largest cloud providers in the EU and pointed to their turnover, operational capacity and investment levels relative to competitors; some reports also say regulators see AI demand as reinforcing their market position infobae,Bloomberg Business,N-tv.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Cloud infrastructure has become important enough to business customers and AI demand that extending DMA scrutiny to AWS and Azure would carry significant consequences.
- Where Left and Right split
- Whether the story is about concentrated market power in cloud infrastructure, or about keeping due process and regulatory restraint intact before imposing DMA obligations.
How left and right read it
The important point here is that the EU is treating cloud infrastructure as concentrated power, not just another tech market. Regulators say AWS and Azure are the two biggest services in the EU and that their scale, turnover, operational capacity, and investment appear to exceed competitors, which is exactly why extending Digital Markets Act oversight into this sector matters as cloud becomes more central to business customers and AI-related demand.
What matters here is process and restraint: the Commission has reached only a preliminary conclusion, and Amazon and Microsoft still have the chance to review it and submit written arguments before any designation is confirmed. That matters all the more because this would push DMA oversight into cloud infrastructure and, if finalized, impose a six-month compliance clock on services central to business customers and AI-related demand.
The receipts — all 100 sources
Wire services (2)
Independent coverage (50)
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