Microsoft Azure and AWS are edging closer to gatekeeper status under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, a designation that would subject both cloud platforms to tighter competition rules. Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the European Commission has drafted findings concluding that both services meet the requirements, with a final decision expected sometime in November. The Commission itself says it has not made a final decision yet.
Notably, neither AWS nor Azure meets the DMA’s standard quantitative thresholds for gatekeeper status, the usual numerical benchmarks around revenue and user base. Instead, regulators are relying on the law’s qualitative pathway, which lets the Commission designate a service when a market investigation finds substantial market impact, an important gateway role between businesses and end users, and an entrenched position. The Commission has already named AWS and Azure the largest and second-largest cloud providers operating in the EU, respectively.
In reaching its preliminary assessment, the Commission pointed to established user bases, wider technology ecosystems, high switching costs and customer lock-in. Interestingly, regulators also flagged AI as a factor now shaping cloud procurement decisions, since the AI tools and partnerships that Amazon and Microsoft offer increasingly influence which provider a business chooses in the first place.
If the designation goes through, Amazon and Microsoft will have six months to bring their cloud services into compliance with DMA obligations. Meanwhile, a separate ongoing investigation is examining whether existing DMA rules adequately address cloud-specific issues like interoperability barriers, data access restrictions and bundling practices, with a final report due by May 2027.
The EU’s Data Act already tackles switching costs to some degree, since it requires providers to remove technical and contractual obstacles that prevent customers from moving between services. Starting January 12, 2027, providers can no longer charge switching fees at all, including data-egress charges.
Both companies have pushed back. Amazon argues the findings understate the range of cloud options available to European customers, while Microsoft has raised a different concern entirely, questioning why Google Cloud isn’t facing comparable scrutiny.
