The European Commission’s preliminary conclusion that Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should fall under the Digital Markets Act marks a turning point. Cloud computing is no longer a background technology market. It is the infrastructure on which Europe’s businesses, public administrations, start-ups and artificial intelligence ambitions increasingly depend. This is why the DMA’s next major test is the cloud. The Act was created to prevent powerful digital gatekeepers from using their control over essential ecosystems to limit choice, weaken rivals and lock in business users, writes Mathieu Gitton.
That logic applies not only to app stores, operating systems or online marketplaces, but also to the deeper infrastructure layer of the digital economy. In Microsoft’s case, the Commission’s concerns center on entrenched market power, high switching costs, ecosystem lock-in, and the way software, cloud and AI services can be combined to keep customers within a single provider’s environment rather than competing on a level playing field. The Commission’s preliminary findings are significant because they recognise what many cloud customers already experience: scale, switching costs, ecosystem effects and AI partnerships can combine to make cloud markets less contestable than they appear.
In such markets, customers may technically have several providers available, while in practice being constrained by licensing, interoperability, procurement complexity and accumulated dependencies. The issue is not innovation by large technology companies. Microsoft, Amazon and Apple have all built successful digital ecosystems. The problem arises when ecosystems become cages. Bundling and tying can make services look convenient while reducing meaningful choice. A product integrated by default, a licence that works better or more cheaply in one cloud than another, a technical environment that makes migration costly, or a contractual framework that discourages multi-cloud strategies can all have the same effect: locking customers into a dominant provider.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has already shown why this matters. Its cloud market investigation highlighted concerns around concentration, switching barriers, interoperability and software licensing. Most notably, it found that Microsoft’s licensing practices adversely affected the competitiveness of AWS and Google when customers use Microsoft software as an input in cloud services. That is not a marginal technical detail. It gets to the heart of whether businesses can choose the best cloud provider on merit. The Commission’s latest step is welcome. But designation alone will not be enough. If AWS and Azure are ultimately designated as DMA gatekeepers, Europe should move quickly from diagnosis to strong remedies.
These should include fair and non-discriminatory software licensing across clouds, effective interoperability, real data portability, limits on anti-competitive tying and bundling, and safeguards allowing customers to adopt genuine multi-cloud strategies without punitive cost or technical friction. The Commission’s communication does not yet spell out such remedies in detail. That is understandable at this stage of the procedure. But the policy debate should not stop at designation.
A gatekeeper label without robust obligations would leave the structure of the market largely unchanged. Europe needs rules that make switching possible not only in theory, but in procurement departments, engineering teams and boardrooms. The urgency is real. Every year of lock-in makes the problem harder to reverse. Data accumulates, internal systems become embedded, developers specialise in one environment, and customers lose bargaining power. Cloud market power compounds over time. The stakes are even greater because of artificial intelligence.
AI requires vast computing capacity, advanced cloud services and access to scalable infrastructure. If the cloud layer becomes too concentrated, Europe’s AI future could become narrower, less diverse and more dependent before it has fully matured. The DMA should not be framed as a tool against success. It is a tool for open markets. Its purpose is to ensure that customers can choose freely, that competitors can innovate fairly, and that Europe’s digital economy is not built on hidden dependencies. The Commission has opened the right door. It must now ensure that the remedies are strong enough to keep it open.
Mathieu Gitton is a specialist in European public affairs and digital policy. He regularly publishes analyses on issues related to competition, digital regulation, and technological sovereignty in Europe. He previously worked at the European Commission in DGs COMP and FISMA.
