EU Court Rejects Opera's Challenge Over Microsoft Edge DMA Status

The General Court of the European Union has upheld a European Commission decision that Microsoft's Edge browser is not a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The ruling follows a legal challenge by the Norwegian company Opera, which had sought to have Edge designated as a gatekeeper to impose stricter obligations on the browser. The Commission had previously determined that while Microsoft met certain quantitative thresholds, the company successfully demonstrated that it did not satisfy all requirements for the designation. Specifically, the court noted that the Commission could consider the low scale of Edge's usage when concluding it is not a major gateway. Data cited indicated that Edge represented only 5.8 percent of internet pages viewed across all devices in Europe in December 2022. Opera had argued that because Windows is a designated gatekeeper, Microsoft continues to treat Edge preferentially and prevents users from easily choosing alternative default browsers. Additionally, the court addressed the fact that Edge uses the Blink rendering engine developed by Alphabet, supporting the Commission's view that rendering depends on Blink rather than an autonomous choice by Microsoft.