EU Regulators Turn Up Heat on Google, Amazon, Apple

This time around, the EU is reviewing if it should implement more policies to prohibit platform businesses from unfair practices. This would apply to companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and eBay.

This was part of a series of proposals published by the EU, which also included other proposals about ways to ease up on rules that would make cross-border commerce easier. In the case of how to oversee online platforms, the EU has determined that one law for all platform businesses would not be sufficient but instead said it would curb problems as they arise.

The commission’s proposal included details for companies that offer online video streaming services, like Netflix and Amazon, to ensure those companies offer European productions for at least a fifth of its offerings. EU states will also have the ability to require streaming services to offer options for their audience.

“I want online platforms and the audiovisual and creative sectors to be powerhouses in the digital economy, not weigh them down with unnecessary rules,” Andrus Ansip, EU Commission vice president, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Large U.S. tech companies have been scrutinized across the EU for how they have handled their business — particularly, the sharing of data. That has also translated into how the companies manage their access to particular markets, how they interact within those markets and how they deal with their competitors.