Web Browser Makers Ask EU to Designate Microsoft Edge as a Gatekeeper

The European Commission declined to designate Microsoft Edge a gatekeeper under the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA). But some competitors think this is a mistake, and they’ve asked the Commission to reconsider.

“The Commission decided not to apply the DMA to Microsoft Edge and, as a result, unfair practices are currently allowed to persist on the Windows’ ecosystem with respect to Edge, unmitigated by the choice screens that exist on mobile,” a letter signed by Vivaldi, Open Web Advocacy, and other organizations reads. “Multiple different technical obstacles and pop-up messages appearing on Edge undermine the consumer’s choice of an independent browser. These technical obstacles discourage consumers from using independent browsers, and the messages shown on Edge mischaracterize the features of independent browsers that differentiate them from Edge.”

This letter–which is not yet public but was viewed by The Register–mostly consists of little-used EU-based browsers like Vivaldi, Waterfox, and Wavebox. The basic argument is that Windows falls under the DMA regulations and that Microsoft is using Edge’s in-box placement in its dominant OS to harm consumers. Which is, of course, true: I created an entire chapter in the Windows 11 Field Guide to address the browser’s most malicious problems. These organizations argue that regulation and a mobile-like browser choice screen would benefit consumers–and them–greatly.

This initiative was kicked off by Opera in July, when it appealed the Commission’s Edge decision to the EU General Court.

“Almost 30 years after the launch of Opera’s first browser, third party browsers are still not treated equally on Windows,” it wrote at the time. “Because Edge has not been designated as a gatekeeper service under the DMA, the vastly popular Windows operating system is still able to make it difficult for users to choose and continue to use an alternative browser as the system default, and it keeps treating its own browser, Edge, in a preferential way. We see the lack of a browser choice screen on Windows as entirely inconsistent with the purpose and promise of the DMA. You should be free to choose your browser on all platforms, and the choice you make should be respected.”

Fair enough: Edge is, after all, a part of Windows and thus could be logically regulated on that platform along with Windows. In fact, it should be. The behaviors these companies see are indeed horrible.