Meta and Apple close to settling EU cases

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Meta and Apple are close to settling two antitrust cases with the European Commission, as the US Big Tech groups seek to avoid a series of escalating fines from Brussels.

The companies are in the final stages of agreeing a deal with European regulators to change a range of business practices after being fined a total of €700mn in April for breaching the EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act, according to officials briefed on the discussions.

The potential settlement comes as the EU’s digital rules continue to be a flashpoint between Brussels and US President Donald Trump. He has threatened to retaliate against countries that “discriminate” against US companies.

The EU had fined Meta €200mn and ordered the group to change its “pay or consent” model, which forces users to either consent to data tracking or pay a subscription fee for an ad-free experience.

European officials told the Financial Times there was growing optimism that a workable solution could be found with Meta after initial changes proposed by the Facebook parent were deemed insufficient.

The officials added that the most sensitive remaining issue in talks with Meta was to ensure that consumers can easily find and navigate the different options the group is offering in the EU.

Apple already announced plans in June to change its App Store policies following the EU’s investigation into whether the iPhone maker’s rules prevented app developers from sending consumers to offers outside its platform.

“We did what we had to do to avoid the threat of future significant fines”, said Kyle Andeer, Apple’s chief compliance officer, in June.

The commission is also discussing potential changes with Apple in relation to another investigation into the iPhone maker on its new contractual terms for developers.

While the negotiations are continuing with the two groups, people briefed on the talks said no final decisions had been made but they were hopeful the cases would be settled soon.

An agreement would mean both Apple and Meta would avoid daily financial penalties, which can escalate over time and reach up to 5 per cent of average daily worldwide revenue.

Meta and Apple have both been critical of the EU’s tech legislation, with Apple last month urging Brussels to scrap its rules — marking a step up in US tech giants’ fight against European oversight.

Throughout the process, Apple has accused the commission of moving the goalposts on what the company needs to do to comply with the EU’s digital rule book.

Apple said: “While we believe we are compliant, we appealed this decision because we believe it goes far beyond what the law requires.”

The commission said it continued to engage with both companies to ensure effective compliance. Meta confirmed negotiations were ongoing and constructive.

“Compliance means that developers get a real chance and that users get a real choice, not buried under a maze of dark patterns from gatekeepers,” said the commission.

It is still collecting input from stakeholders on the changes made by Apple. “With Meta, we shared our remaining concerns in July, which we continue to discuss.”

The commission added that if Apple or Meta continued to be in breach of their obligations, “all options remain on the table, including periodic penalty payments”.