Apple has told UK regulators that the plans to adopt more EU-like measures over the App Store are too restrictive, go beyond promoting competition, and amount to illegal regulation of service pricing.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is considering emulating the European Union, including forcing Apple and Google to open their App Stores to rivals. As the regulator's open consultation with interested parties concludes, Reuters reports how Apple has formally objected to the proposals.
"Under the [proposals], the CMA would not only regulate Apple's prices, but also restrict the products and services for which Apple can charge a commission," said Apple in its formal filing.
Apple further described this as going beyond promoting competition and instead giving the UK a "highly intrusive" presence in how it runs the App Store. Saying that the App Store facilitated over $60 billion for the UK in 2025, Apple also noted that there was no evidence the changes would lower prices for users.
The CMA has not commented on this filing. However, when the consultation began, its executive director Will Hayter made a speech saying it accepted the need for fees, but questioned how much they should be.
"While it is only fair for Apple and Google to be compensated for the services they provide," he said, "any fees they charge must be justified through a robust, evidence-led framework involving due reference to both cost and value."
The CMA's proposals also included requiring Apple to open its iPhone NFC system to enable rivals to Apple Wallet. It's not yet known what Apple's filing said about that, although the consultation period for this reportedly concluded on July 21, 2026.
As yet, there does not appear to be a public schedule for the steps the CMA is working through. In late 2025 it published a roadmap that went up to the end of this consultation period, and planned to update that "in the first half of 2026."
While it is being slower than Europe, the UK is on the same path. In October 2025, for instance, it copied the EU's designation of Apple and Google as firms with significant influence in the region.
Where the EU calls such firms "gatekeepers," the UK says that they have "strategic market status." Whatever the terminology, the UK is pursuing the same goals that Europe set out to do.
So far the CMA has offered proposals and they have not yet become legislation. But the consultation process closed on July 27, 2025, and the CMA will shortly be due to report its findings to the UK government.
