The European Commission has informed Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that they should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) regarding their cloud computing services: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure (Azure), respectively.
The DMA is intended to ensure contestable and fair markets in the digital sector. It identifies certain large digital platforms as “gatekeepers” where they provide an important gateway between business users and end users, and imposes a range of obligations designed to prevent unfair practices and improve market openness.
The Commission launched two market investigations on 18 November 2025 to assess whether Amazon and Microsoft should be designated as gatekeepers for their cloud computing services.
In both cases, the Commission has made a preliminary finding that AWS and Azure, the largest and second-largest cloud computing services in the EU respectively, are important gateways between businesses and their customers in the EU. This is despite the services not meeting the DMA’s quantitative thresholds for designation.
Amazon and Microsoft have already been designated as gatekeepers for other services, reflecting their significant impact on the internal market. According to the Commission, AWS and Azure have achieved significant turnover, and their operational capacity and investment levels have substantially outpaced those of competitors. The Commission also considers that both services have very large and entrenched user bases and appear to benefit from lock-in effects, high switching costs and broader ecosystem advantages.
The Commission also points to the growing importance of AI. It says that cloud providers’ AI tools and partnerships have become a decisive factor in cloud procurement. While AI is significantly increasing demand for cloud-related services, the Commission’s view is that AWS and Azure can retain a large proportion of that additional demand within their respective ecosystems.
The Commission’s preliminary view is that both Amazon and Microsoft hold entrenched and durable positions in the EU cloud computing sector, evidenced in particular by the sustained market positions of AWS and Azure over many years.
The DMA allows the Commission to investigate whether a provider should be designated as a gatekeeper even where the relevant service does not meet the quantitative thresholds, such as user numbers. This may be the case where the provider has a significant impact on the internal market, provides a service that serves as an important gateway for business users to reach end users, and enjoys an entrenched and durable market position. In carrying out that assessment, the Commission may consider factors such as the provider’s size, user numbers, network effects, scale and scope effects, lock-in and switching costs, and the company’s conglomerate structure or vertical integration. On 18 November 2025, the Commission also opened a third investigation to assess whether the current DMA obligations are effective in addressing practices that limit contestability or are unfair in the cloud sector. In all three investigations, the Commission is being supported by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) through a joint investigative team under the DMA cooperation rules.
The preliminary findings do not prejudge the outcome of the investigations. If the preliminary findings are confirmed, the Commission will adopt decisions designating Amazon and Microsoft as gatekeepers for their cloud computing services. Amazon and Microsoft would then have six months to ensure that AWS and Azure comply fully with the DMA obligations applicable to designated core platform services.
