- Apple charges 15-30% commission for payments in the App Store
- The company denied wrongdoing in the country, but the EU rejected its very claim
- The Court of Justice of the European Union says that the Dutch-specific App Store is reason enough
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Dutch courts have jurisdiction over a case against Apple’s App Store brought by two Dutch foundations.
They argue that the App Store’s commissions are excessive and anti-competitive and therefore harm Dutch users, including both consumers and developers.
Apple previously argued that the Netherlands lacked jurisdiction because the damage did not occur in the Netherlands, but the European court has now rejected this argument.
Apple may be in trouble with its App Store in the Netherlands
“The Dutch courts have jurisdiction to deal with a representative case concerning Apple’s alleged anti-competitive conduct in relation to its App Store targeting the Dutch market,” the European court noted.
The court shared that the Dutch App Store is specifically designed for the Dutch market, uses Dutch and offers apps tailored to Dutch users – therefore meaning it would be acceptable for Dutch courts to proceed with the case.
Apple also decides its commission of 15% or 30% based on its own scale. The company actively discourages third-party payments and app subscriptions, forcing developers to sacrifice larger percentages of their earnings through commission, ultimately driving up prices for consumers.
“To determine the place where the damage occurred, the virtual space constituted by the App Store NL, where the purchases were made, is the entire territory of that state,” the note explains.
Apple told Bloomberg (via Judgment) that EU regulators “keep changing the benchmarks for what DMA compliance is, making it impossible to comply with their management decision.” Apple is dedicating “hundreds of thousands of hours” to meet Europe’s new rules.
The Cupertino giant still has time to submit a compliance proposal, so the next steps are yet to be taken.
TechRadar Pro has asked Apple for its reaction to the verdict – the company did not immediately respond.
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