Apple is amongst three tech giants being investigated for failing to comply with the European Union’s new competition rules, in one other blow to the embattled smartphone maker.

Apple was the first focus of an EU press convention on Monday morning. But authorities additionally opened formal investigations into Meta and Alphabet, Google’s mother or father firm. The trio are the primary to be topic to formal probes below the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark competitors legislation, which took impact on March 7.

Under the brand new guidelines, six of the world’s largest tech firms, recognized within the EU as “gatekeepers,” had been requested to supply proof that they weren’t harming competitors. “We are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple, and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses,” mentioned Thierry Breton, EU trade chief, in a statement on Monday. “Should our investigation conclude that there is lack of full compliance with the DMA, gatekeepers could face heavy fines.” Under the Digital Markets Act, officers can levy fines of as much as 10 % of tech giants’ international income or 20 % for repeat violations.

Following weeks of criticism directed at Apple by developers, the EU’s competitors chief Margrethe Vestager mentioned a proper investigation would concentrate on two parts of the smartphone maker’s enterprise: the boundaries Apple locations on builders attempting to hyperlink from the App Store to their very own web sites, and the way onerous Apple makes it to switch default, native apps like Photos or iCloud with third-party options.

“Gatekeepers have an obligation to enable easy uninstallation of apps and easy change of default settings,” Vestager mentioned within the press convention. “Apple’s compliance model does not seem to meet the objective of this obligation.”

EU officers are additionally contemplating one other formal investigation into whether or not Apple’s rules for alternative app stores—permitting customers to obtain apps from locations apart from the official App Store—adjust to the Digital Markets Act guidelines. Apple is assured its enterprise is compliant, firm spokesperson Rob Saunders informed WIRED. “Teams across Apple have created a wide range of new developer capabilities, features, and tools to comply with the regulation,” he mentioned in a press release. “At the same time, we’ve introduced protections to help reduce new risks to the privacy, quality, and security of our EU users’ experience.”

Apple has emerged as a focus for competitors officers in each the EU and the US. The EU announcement on Monday follows a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice final week that claimed the smartphone maker had established an iPhone monopoly that was suppressing competitors and harming consumers.

The lawsuit cited four internal Apple emails that, the DOJ claimed, illustrate how executives knowingly limit customers and builders in unfair methods. In one alternate from 2010, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs and an unnamed Apple govt mentioned how a brand new advert for Amazon’s Kindle seemed that it’s straightforward to change from iPhone to Android. “Not fun to watch,” the chief wrote.