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Published on
November 18, 2025
5 min read
Inside the EU Probe into Cloud Service Giants, Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS
In Focus
- The EU has announced three probes into Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure
- The probes will be conducted under the Digital Markets Act (DMA)
- Two probes will assess whether the tech companies should be designated as gatekeepers
The European Commission has announced three investigations into Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure cloud services. According to CNBC, the EU cloud services probe will be conducted under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which reins in the dominance of major tech companies.
The EU Pursues Fair, Competitive Terms
Two of the cloud provider probes will assess whether Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers.
“Cloud computing services are vital for Europe’s competitiveness and resilience. We want this strategic sector to grow on fair, open, and competitive terms,” Antitrust Chief at the EU Teresa Ribera said.
The third probe will assess the sufficiency of the DMA in handling anticompetitive practices in the cloud computing industry.
“We will also look at whether the DMA’s existing rules need to be updated so Europe can keep pace with fast-evolving practices in the cloud sector,” Teresa Ribera added.
The EU announced Amazon’s AWS Digital Markets Act probe weeks after it started investigating Google over claims of news demotion in search results. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s largest cloud services provider, followed by Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud.
What Does the Gatekeeper Designation Mean in the EU
DMA probes identify tech companies that operate as “gatekeepers” between businesses and users and impose specific obligations to curb unfair practices. Gatekeepers are mostly determined based on the number of users.
The DMA, which took effect in 2022, considers companies with a market capitalization exceeding 75 billion euros and more than 45 million monthly active users as gatekeepers of core platform services.
The Commission said previous assessments have indicated that “the cloud computing services offered by Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services occupy very strong positions in relation to businesses and consumers.”
The EU may assign similar status to smaller companies after investigation. The cloud gatekeeper probe by the European Commission comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has supported tech giants and lobbied against the EU regulations.
What’s Next for Amazon and Microsoft?
If the DMA probes on cloud providers Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure determine their services qualify as critical gateways, they will be included in the list of core platform services, where the tech companies are already designated as gatekeepers.
Microsoft has expressed willingness to contribute to Azure’s EU investigation. AWS has raised concerns over increased costs for businesses in the region.
“Designating cloud providers as gatekeepers isn’t worth the risks of stifling invention or raising costs for European companies,” an AWS spokesperson said.
The EU requires companies that are designated as gatekeepers to interoperate their services with competitors and avoid self-preferencing practices. Violation of the DMA attracts fines of up to 10% of annual global turnover. The EU will conclude the DMA probes within a year.
