EU moves to label AWS and Microsoft Azure as “gatekeepers,” European Commission says, prompting company responses

The European Commission has said it believes Amazon Web Services, or AWS, and Microsoft Azure should be classified as “gatekeepers” under the EU’s Digital Markets Act. The gatekeeper label is designed to ensure that certain large digital providers cannot use their market power to restrict competition, particularly in areas where business users depend on the provider for core services.

The action, as described in an updated report, follows the Commission’s view that both hyperscale cloud infrastructure offerings play a central role for businesses and developers across the EU digital economy. Gatekeeper status under the DMA is not just a label, it triggers specific obligations aimed at limiting unfair practices and improving business user choice.

An update to the original reporting included comments from both Amazon and Microsoft. The companies were described as responding to the Commission’s gatekeeper assessment, though the report as provided here does not include detailed specifics of the firms’ arguments or any final commitments they may have made.

For cloud providers, the gatekeeper process matters because it can affect how they handle business access to services built on top of their platforms, including how users can move workloads, interoperate with alternative services, and avoid being locked into a single ecosystem. Under the DMA framework, gatekeepers can also face requirements around transparency and constraints on certain forms of bundling or preferential treatment.

Microsoft, which markets Azure as its cloud computing platform for infrastructure and software services, has made Europe a significant part of its cloud strategy. Gatekeeper obligations would add a new compliance dimension for Azure, potentially affecting product design, contracting terms, and how the company addresses third-party business needs within the EU market.

Amazon’s AWS, similarly positioned as a foundational cloud infrastructure provider, would face the same kind of regulatory scrutiny if designated a gatekeeper. For AWS, compliance would likely center on business-user access and portability questions, as well as restrictions aimed at preventing leverage from one area of the platform to another.

Still, major details are not contained in the material provided here. The report indicates the Commission’s position and notes that both companies commented, but it does not lay out the exact obligations the EU would impose, whether the designation is final versus part of an ongoing process, or what specific practices the Commission singled out for scrutiny.