New rules for U.S tech giants to come into force in October, EU's Vestager says

FILE PHOTO: Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Europe fit for the Digital Age speaks during a signature ceremony regarding the Chips Act at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 8, 2022. Virginia Mayo/Pool via REUTERS

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Tough new rules targeting U.S. tech giants agreed late on Thursday are expected to come into force in October, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Friday.

The rules, which Vestager proposed a year ago, are called the Digital Markets Act and set out a list of dos and don'ts for Amazon, Apple, Meta, Alphabet unit Google and Microsoft.

Fines for violations range from 10% of a company's annual global turnover to 20% for repeat offenders which could face an acquisition ban.

"And with the processes foreseen, these pieces of legislation, well, they will have been voted in and publicised in the Official Journal, so coming into force sometime in October," Vestager told a news conference.

Companies that are designated as online gatekeepers which control access to their platforms and the data generated there will have six months to comply with the new rules.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee. Editing by Jane Merriman)