Apple Claims EU’s Extensive Digital Regulations Postpone New Features for European Users and Calls for Their Withdrawal

LONDON – Apple is urging the European Union to drop its digital competition regulations, claiming these rules are burdensome and hindering the introduction of new features for Europeans, like live translation on AirPods.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive branch, said Thursday that’s not going to happen.

“There is absolutely no intention from the Commission’s side to repeal the DMA,” stated Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier, referring to the Digital Markets Act.

The tech giant expressed its concerns in a submission related to the DMA, a comprehensive set of regulations aimed at preventing Big Tech firms from dominating market spaces.

The company said “the DMA should be repealed” or scaled back, saying it’s undermining innovation and eroding privacy and security.

Apple has opposed this legislation for some time and was among the first to receive a fine following the law’s implementation last year, facing a 500 million euro ($587 million) penalty in an app store matter.

The company argues that Europeans are lagging behind globally because it must spend significant time ensuring new features adhere to these regulations.

“The DMA compels Apple to ensure certain functions are compatible with non-Apple devices and applications before they can be released to our users,” the company mentioned in a blog post. “Regrettably, this requires extensive engineering work and has led to the postponement of some features in the EU.”

For example, under the DMA, the live translation feature that Apple unveiled earlier this month for use with AirPods would also have to work with wireless earbuds from other brands. The feature uses an iPhone’s on-device AI to translate when other languages are spoken around the person using them. Apple says it needs more work to make sure conversations, which are processed on the device, stay private if used with non-Apple products.

Other features affected include iPhone Mirroring with Mac computers, and Apple Maps’ Visited Places and Preferred Routes.

Apple also said EU requirements to allow alternative app marketplaces and payment systems onto iOS expose users to security risks such as online scams and malware disguised as games.

And DMA provisions requiring Apple to comply with rivals’ request to access “user data and core technologies” creates “serious risk” for its users, it said.

Apple said it’s complying with the regulations but asked regulators to take a closer look at how they’re affecting Europeans.

At a regular European Commission press briefing in Brussels, Regnier pushed back against Apple’s complaints.

“Nothing in the DMA requires companies to lower their privacy standards, their security standards,” Regnier said. “To the opposite, it’s just about giving our users more choice.”