Apple and Meta will not face fresh fines from Brussels when a 60-day grace period under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) expires on 26 June, the European Commission confirmed on Wednesday. The watchdog said any new penalties will wait until it has reviewed the companies’ latest compliance moves and given them a chance to respond.
Both firms were hit with the DMA’s first non-compliance fines in April. €500 million for Apple over App Store anti-steering rules and €200 million for Meta’s pay-or-consent ad-tracking model, and were ordered to fix the breaches within two months.
Commission officials told Euronews the process is now an “ongoing exchange,” meaning sanctions will only follow a preliminary analysis instead of kicking in automatically when the clock runs out. That approach gives the companies a short reprieve but keeps the threat of tougher action alive.
Under the DMA, Brussels can impose periodic penalties of up to 5 percent of a company’s average daily global turnover for each day of continued non-compliance. Single-shot fines of up to 10 percent of annual revenue, double for repeat offences, were also imposed.
Apple says its revised App Store terms now let developers steer users to outside payment options, albeit with new fees. Meta has tweaked its subscription plan so that users who refuse personalised ads are tracked with what it calls “less personal data.” EU regulators are still scrutinising whether either fix meets the law’s competition and privacy standards.
The softer tone lands against a backdrop of tense U.S.–EU tech relations. Washington has labelled the DMA an unfair barrier to American firms, while Brussels is weighing a digital-ad tax in response to recent U.S. tariffs. For now, Apple and Meta have bought themselves time, but if the Commission decides their changes fall short, the real financial pain could arrive later this summer.