Abstract:
Norwegian browser maker Opera said on Wednesday that it had not been supported in its legal challenge to the European Union's antitrust regulator's decision to exempt Microsoft's Edge browser from the regulatory rules of some large technology companies.
In its 2024 decision, the European Commission determined that although Edge met the quantitative standards stipulated in the Digital Market Law, it was not an important entrance for enterprises to reach users and therefore should not be included in the relevant regulatory scope. The Digital Market Law aims to limit the market power of large technology companies and stipulates a series of behaviors that must and must not be carried out.
Opera believes that the European Commission, which also assumes EU competition supervision functions, has mistakenly applied relevant identification standards.
The Luxembourg-based General Court of the European Union backed the EU antitrust regulator’s decision. The agency has previously won a number of lawsuits involving the Digital Markets Act, making it more difficult for companies to challenge relevant EU decisions.
The EU General Court upheld the European Commission's decision not to designate Microsoft as a "gatekeeper" in the Edge field, the judge said. The court found that the EU regulators did not err in accepting Microsoft's "well-founded" arguments; these arguments were sufficient to prove that Edge was not an important entry point for companies to reach users.
Opera has long-standing competition and regulatory disputes with Microsoft. Complaints filed by Opera against the U.S. rival in 2007 ultimately prompted the European Union to impose a €561 million antitrust fine on Microsoft in 2013 for failing to provide users with a choice of web browsers.
The case number is T-357/24. The plaintiff is Opera Norway and the defendant is the European Commission.
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