Opera fails in EU court: MS Edge still not relevant
Opera has failed before the EU court in its attempt to force Microsoft Edge to be classified as a “gatekeeper” under the rules of the European Digital Markets Act. Edge is probably still not relevant enough.
EU court dismisses Opera lawsuit
The European Union Court based in Luxembourg has heard a lawsuit from the Norwegian browser maker Opera rejected with which the company sought to challenge the EU Commission’s decision not to classify Microsoft Edge as an “important gateway” for companies to reach users on the Internet.
The EU did not classify the Microsoft browser in this way, even though it meets the quantitative requirements under the Digital Market Act (DMA). The EU Commission usually uses these values to decide which companies have to comply with certain regulations and bans with their products because they have achieved too much dominance in the market.
Edge is not a ‘gatekeeper’ within the meaning of EU legislation
Opera claimed in its lawsuit that the EU competition commissioners had incorrectly applied the criteria of the Digital Markets Act. After a thorough examination, the EU court has now come to the conclusion that Microsoft has provided “sufficiently justified arguments” for why the EU did not classify Edge as an “important gateway”. It was said that the EU had not made a mistake with this decision. The browser developer Opera has not yet commented on the topic. Opera had already filed a complaint against the EU’s decision in favor of Edge in the summer of 2024.
Last year, Opera filed another competition complaint in Brazil and accused Microsoft of not only shipping Edge with Windows ex works, but also using all sorts of tricks and attempts at deception to mislead users into using Edge. The EU had already decided in 2024 that Edge, with a small market share of around five percent at the time, was simply not relevant enough to be covered by the DMA’s measures. To date, little has changed in terms of market share, as Google Chrome is still number 1 on the browser hit list with a gigantic lead. Opera can now theoretically take action against the EU court’s decision at the next higher and therefore highest instance before the EU Court of Justice.
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