(Brussels) 23 April 2025 – Today, the European Commission announced fines totaling €700 million related to investigations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Missing from the Commission’s announcement were any details on how these fines will be used to support more innovation from Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“€700 million is going directly into the coffers of the European Commission without any details on what that money will be used for,” said Mike Sax, founder of ACT | The App Association. “These fines enforce a culture of compliance for compliance’s sake – not to encourage innovation or to support European SMEs. Our members don’t need app stores to pay fines. They need app stores to continue to improve developer tools, protect consumers’ privacy, and provide secure access to a global marketplace.”
The Commission’s demands to make additional product changes raise concerns for security, viability, and intellectual property protection for SMEs that already have apps in the store.
“These mandated changes create openings for bad actors to exploit,” said Sax. “If malicious or unsecure applications are allowed, consumers will lose confidence that their data and information is safe and secure, disproportionately threatening SMEs that don’t have billion-euro global brands.”
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ACT | The App Association is a global trade association for small and medium-sized technology companies. Our members are entrepreneurs, innovators, and independent developers within the global app ecosystem that engage with verticals across every industry. We work with and for our members to promote a policy environment that rewards and inspires innovation while providing resources that help them raise capital, create jobs, and continue to build incredible technology.