EU investigates AWS, Azure under Digital Markets Act rules

The European Union has launched an investigation into Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure to assess whether stricter rules should apply to the two largest cloud platforms.

The European Commission will review if Amazon and Microsoft act as key gateways between businesses and consumers under the Digital Markets Act, and whether the current regulatory framework is effective in addressing competition concerns in the cloud sector.

This probe follows recent major outages, including a 15-hour disruption at AWS last month and issues at Microsoft Azure in October, which caused problems for companies such as Apple and McDonald’s, and prevented people from checking in for Alaska Airlines flights.

The commission aims to complete its investigation within 12 months, and will make a final decision on cloud sector regulation under the DMA within 18 months.

Microsoft will cooperate with the inquiry, while Amazon expressed confidence that the market provides choice and innovation.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

AWS and Azure gatekeeper status under the DMA turns on how users are counted

AWS and Microsoft Azure skipped DMA gatekeeper lists because enterprise contracts muddy user counts, unlike consumer platforms 1. The European Commission will decide if they work as important gateways between businesses and consumers even without hitting DMA thresholds for size, users, or market power 2.
If tagged as gatekeepers they would need to enable third‑party interoperability, give user data access, and stop self‑preferencing in rankings 3. US hyperscale providers, very large cloud platforms that run massive data centers, hold over 65% of the EU cloud market while EU providers fell from 26% in 2017 to 10% in 2020 1.
Regulators will assess interoperability hurdles and limited data access for business users 2. They will also review tying or bundling of services and uneven contract terms 2. Large cloud providers such as AWS and Azure cut switching fees after pressure, yet bundling with other services still creates lock‑in 1.

Multi‑cloud vendors and compliance tools should time launches around the January 2027 switching charge ban

The EU Data Act forces cloud providers to end all switching charges by 12 January 2027 and clear technical, contractual, and organizational hurdles to switching 1. A standard 30‑day window applies to finish a switch and to export data in common machine‑readable formats, which boosts demand for migration and portability tools 4.
Vendors building multi‑cloud management, disaster recovery, or compliance automation can plan around two phases 5. Charges get capped at direct costs from January 2024 to January 2027, then a full ban begins, which will push enterprises to prepare exit plans before the deadline 5.
Banks and insurers face twin pressure from the Data Act plus the Digital Operational Resilience Act, an EU law that sets cybersecurity and incident‑resilience standards 5. DORA requires documented ICT third‑party risk strategies with exit plans and transition periods 5. Tools that keep service continuity during switches and offer audit‑ready controls will fit both rules.