EU Turns Rules Into Architecture

The European Commission is no longer just telling Big Tech to compete fairly; it is now spelling out how Google must share search data and how platforms must open key interfaces. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) On April 16, 2026, the Commission sent Google preliminary findings under Article 6(11) of the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, with proposed measures for sharing ranking, query, click, and view data with rival search engines. It also opened a public consultation on the draft terms. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The proposal says access should be on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms, and it explicitly covers who qualifies for the data, how often Google must provide it, how personal data must be anonymised, and how prices should be set. The Commission said eligible recipients could include artificial-intelligence chatbots with search functions. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) That is a change in posture from antitrust cases that punish conduct after the fact. Under the DMA, the Commission can specify product requirements in advance for companies it has designated as “gatekeepers,” including search engines, app stores, and messaging services. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The same pattern is already visible elsewhere in the law. On March 19, 2025, the Commission adopted two legally binding specification decisions telling Apple what interoperability measures it had to implement for iPhone and iPad features used by smartwatches, headphones, televisions, and app developers seeking access to technical documentation. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) For engineers, “interoperability” here means one company must expose hooks — the technical connection points that let another company’s hardware or software work with its system. The Apple decisions covered nine iOS connectivity features, including notifications on smartwatches, peer-to-peer Wi‑Fi transfers, near-field communication, and device pairing. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) Google is now in a similar specification process on Android. The Commission opened proceedings on January 27, 2026, to define how Google must give third-party developers “free and effective interoperability” with Android hardware and software features, including features used by Google’s own Gemini artificial-intelligence services. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The Commission said those January proceedings would conclude within six months, and that draft measures would be sent within three months. The April 16 Google search-data proposal fits that timetable and shows how the DMA is moving from broad legal duties to line-by-line implementation. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) Google has argued that the Commission’s DMA demands would weaken product quality and security. After separate preliminary findings on March 19, 2025, covering Google Search and Google Play, Google said the EU was pushing changes that would “hurt European businesses and consumers, hinder innovation, weaken security, and degrade product quality.” (ec.europa.eu, blog.google) Apple has made the same security case in its own DMA filings and support documents, saying EU-required changes to app distribution and payments create trade-offs for privacy, safety, and simplicity. The Commission’s Apple decisions say those interoperability measures must still preserve privacy, security, and the integrity of Apple’s operating systems. (developer.apple.com, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu) The immediate fight is over Google search data, but the larger shift is already on the books: in Europe, product design choices around distribution, interfaces, and data access are becoming enforceable legal specifications, not just business decisions. (digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu, digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu)