Booking.com shows the true scope of the EU’s big tech crackdown

The first tech deal to be blocked since the European Union introduced new competition rules for the sector, called the Digital Markets Act

The decision to block the Booking.com deal arrives two weeks after the EU published its list of gatekeeper companies that will have to comply with strict new antitrust rules or face fines of up 20 percent of their global annual turnover under the new digital markets act (DMA). Booking.com was conspicuously absent from that list.

Key takeaways

• When the DMA was discussed last year, a lot of people said this is a very narrowly tailored piece of legislation which really seeks to kneecap the large US tech companies;
• The decision affecting Booking.com - one of Europe’s biggest technology companies by market cap - demonstrates the EU’s intention to signal that its own tech giants also have to abide by the new Big Tech rulebook;
• “While OTAs appear to be a convenient service for consumers, they also have an impact on the costs for hotels and ultimately on the price paid by consumers,” the new EU competition chief Didier Reynders said in a press conference.

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