A recent court ruling in the United States sparked a wave of protest among app developers in Europe, after the Ninth Circuit Court forced Apple to stop charging fees for payments made outside the App Store.
As a result, European developers are demanding the same treatment, calling on the European Union to intervene, saying that the current situation gives US developers an unfair advantage.
According to the developers, this reality contradicts European laws, as Apple is classified as a “gatekeeper,” obligating it to allow developers to collect payments outside the App Store without imposing any fees. However, what Apple actually implemented was different from what was expected.
After being fined 500 million euros, the company announced a new two-tier system for app store service fees, which includes a commission of 5% or more on payments made outside the store, after previously preventing even mentioning this option within applications. By contrast, Apple is no longer permitted to charge any such commission in the United States following the recent court ruling.
In this context, the Coalition for App Fairness was formed, which includes prominent companies such as Epic and Spotify, companies that have previously fought legal disputes with Apple over their policies within the App Store.
The alliance’s global policy legal advisor, Gene Burros, believes that the current situation is harmful to European companies and consumers alike, explaining that European developers are forced to either bear the additional costs or pass them on to the end user.
In addition, developers in Europe are expressing their concern about new political changes that Apple announced its intention to implement in 2026, without revealing their details yet, despite the approaching date of their entry into force, which prompts them to demand more transparency and regulatory intervention from the European Union.
