Opera asked the EU General Court for this annul the decision of the European Commission not designate Microsoft Edge as a “guardian” of the Digital Markets Act because it believes that Microsoft “makes it difficult to use third-party browsers” as the default system on Windows computers.

You already know that the Digital Markets Act, better known as the DMA, entered into force in the European Union last March. The standard aims to “ensure a fair and open digital market”preventing big tech companies from using (as they have been doing since time immemorial) their dominant position to their advantage, fueling competition and favoring the alternatives of other smaller companies.

To this end, the DMA defines a set of criteria by which large Internet platforms can be considered “doorman”. This is where de facto monopolies come in, like the one Microsoft has with Windows; Apple with iOS; Google with its search engine; Amazon in e-commerce or Meta with its social media applications.

Initially, the Bing search engine and the Edge browser were included alongside Windows, but Microsoft claimed that they had not achieved enough market share to include them. The EU watchdog investigated the matter and came to a conclusion “Bing and Edge “They weren’t dominant enough. in digital markets, so he eventually deregulated them.

Unsatisfied with the watchdog’s decision, Opera asked the EU General Court to overturn the European Commission’s decision and consider Microsoft Edge a gateway manager under the DMA. The company claims that Microsoft controls the Windows operating system and hence makes it difficult to choose third-party browsers as the default on Windows computers:

“We believe that the particular decision does not adequately evaluate the long-standing and privileged position of Edge on Windows devices and creates level playing field for your competitors. Edge, like Internet Explorer before it, is the gatekeeper that Windows users must go through to download another browser. This is exactly the type of function that DMA was intended to address..

Is it necessary to include Microsoft Edge as a gateway manager?

Of course, Microsoft used every means to push its own browser and take advantage of Windows’ dominant position. It did not respect the choice of users, complicated the election through well-known “dark patterns” or other techniques that, by action or omission, make it difficult to use alternatives from third-party providers, both for web browsing and for accessing other Windows services.

However, Still, it failed to dominate the market. It’s light years away from market leader Google Chrome in terms of market share and even uses the same Chromium engine. That’s on PC, because it’s simply not on mobile. Additionally, Microsoft Edge, Bing, OneDrive and other services can be easily removed from Windows if you live in the European Union. We will see the decision of TU.