Art. 9 Suspension | DMA regulation | DMA

This article provides a relief mechanism for gatekeepers, allowing them to seek a suspension of specific obligations laid down in Articles 5, 6, or 7 where compliance would threaten their economic viability in the Union due to exceptional circumstances beyond their control.

It is essentially a safety valve sitting alongside the core obligations of the regulation, giving the Commission the power to grant temporary relief rather than rigidly enforcing rules in situations that could cause serious economic harm to the gatekeeper.

The Commission retains close oversight throughout, including annual reviews of any suspension granted and the ability to attach conditions to it.

Important points:

Gatekeepers can request a suspension of a specific obligation by submitting a reasoned request to the Commission, which must demonstrate that exceptional circumstances beyond their control would endanger their economic viability in the Union.
The Commission is required to review any granted suspension every year and must either lift it wholly or partly, or confirm that the conditions for it continue to be met.
In urgent cases, gatekeepers can request a provisional suspension before the Commission has completed its full assessment, and the Commission must take into account the impact on third parties, including SMEs and consumers, when assessing any suspension request.

1. Where the gatekeeper demonstrates in a reasoned request that compliance with a specific obligation laid down in Article 5, 6 or 7 for a core platform service listed in the designation decision pursuant to Article 3(9) would endanger, due to exceptional circumstances beyond the gatekeeper’s control, the economic viability of its operation in the Union, the Commission may adopt an implementing act setting out its decision to exceptionally suspend, in whole or in part, the specific obligation referred to in that reasoned request (‘the suspension decision’). In that implementing act, the Commission shall substantiate its suspension decision by identifying the exceptional circumstances justifying the suspension. That implementing act shall be limited to the extent and the duration necessary to address such threat to the gatekeeper’s viability. The Commission shall aim to adopt that implementing act without delay and at the latest 3 months following receipt of a complete reasoned request. That implementing act shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 50(2).
1. Where suspension is granted pursuant to paragraph 1, the Commission shall review its suspension decision every year, unless a shorter interval is specified in that decision. Following such a review the Commission shall either wholly or partly lift the suspension, or decide that the conditions in paragraph 1 continue to be met.
1. In cases of urgency, the Commission may, acting on a reasoned request by a gatekeeper, provisionally suspend the application of a specific obligation referred to in paragraph 1 to one or more individual core platform services already prior to the decision pursuant to that paragraph. Such a request may be made and granted at any time pending the assessment of the Commission pursuant to paragraph 1.
1. In assessing the request referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3, the Commission shall take into account, in particular, the impact of the compliance with the specific obligation on the economic viability of the operation of the gatekeeper in the Union as well as on third parties, in particular SMEs and consumers. The suspension may be made subject to conditions and obligations to be defined by the Commission in order to ensure a fair balance between those interests and the objectives of this Regulation.