European consumer authorities: Apple is not allowed to distinguish between consumers on the basis of their places of residence

The European consumer authorities, including the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), and the European Commission have confronted Apple in connection with a possible violation of EU consumer protection law. They see that Apple does not give consumers in all European countries the same access to its Apple Media Services, including the App Store. Under the Geo-blocking Regulation, businesses are not allowed to discriminate against a consumer solely because they reside in a different Member State or have a different nationality. This action is led by the Belgian, German, and Irish consumer authorities.

Key findings and next steps

The authorities have informed Apple that they see three possible violations, particularly in connection with the App Store:

• Access to the App Store is restricted to the country of registration, meaning the country where that specific consumer resides;
• Downloading apps in another country, for example, while on vacation, is not possible;
• Using payment methods such as credit cards is restricted to the country of card issuance.

Apple is given one month to respond to these findings and to solve these problems for consumers within the boundaries of the current rules. If it fails to do so sufficiently (or fails to do so at all), the national authorities can launch a follow-up procedure and impose sanctions.

What is geo-blocking?

Traders must treat all consumers in the European Union in the same way everywhere. Traders cannot block consumers or treat them differently solely on the basis of their nationalities or places of residence. That has been laid down in the Geo-Blocking Regulation, which was adopted in 2018.

European collaboration

The European consumer authorities and the European Commission work together in the CPC network (Consumer Protection Coordination). The goal is to ensure that companies that are active in different European countries comply with the rules that protect consumers.