Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/814 Adopted 14 April 2023 In force 2 May 2023 12 Articles · 2 Annexes

How the EU designates gatekeepers of the digital economy.

The procedural backbone of the Digital Markets Act. Every notification, document, hearing, deadline, and access right in DMA proceedings is shaped by Implementing Regulation 2023/814. Here is its architecture, mapped to the parent law it serves.

6chapters
Procedural architecture
€7.5Bturnover
Gatekeeper threshold (3 yrs)
45MEU users
Active end-user threshold
50pages
Maximum per core service
§ 01 · Article 3(2) DMA

The gatekeeper test.

Form GD is built around three cumulative quantitative tests. An undertaking that meets all three is presumed to be a gatekeeper under Article 3(1) DMA. The Implementing Regulation governs how the proof is delivered.

Test (a) · Size
EU annual turnover, last 3 financial years
€7.5B
or
€75B average market cap

Significant impact on the internal market

Captures undertakings whose financial weight makes them structurally relevant. Provided in at least three Member States.

Form GD · Section 3
Test (b) · Gateway
Active users in the Union (last financial year)
45M
monthly active end-users, plus
10K yearly active business users

Important gateway for business users to reach end-users

Measured per core platform service in line with the Annex methodology, including any plausible alternative delineations.

Form GD · Section 4
Test (c) · Entrenched
Test (b) thresholds met
3 yrs
in each of
the last three financial years

Entrenched and durable position

Persistence across consecutive periods is the proxy for structural lock-in. Three back-to-back years lifts a position from prominent to entrenched.

Form GD · Section 4 (multi-year)
cumulative · all three required
◇ Article 3(5) DMA · The rebuttal lane
An undertaking that meets all three thresholds may still argue, in a separate annex of up to 30 pages per service, that the relevant core platform service does not in fact satisfy the qualitative requirements of Article 3(1). Each rebuttal must address every cumulative requirement to which it relates and explain why the threshold result misrepresents the service's true position. (Article 2(3), this Regulation.)
§ 02 · The Architecture

Six chapters of procedure.

The Implementing Regulation is short by EU standards: twelve articles, two annexes. It is organised in six chapters that move from scope, through how submissions are made, to how the right to be heard is exercised, and out through deadlines and final provisions.

I
Chapter I · Scope

What this regulation governs.

Art 1

Defines the four families of detailed arrangements: notifications and submissions, Article 29 proceedings, the right to be heard with terms of disclosure, and time limits.

II
Chapter II · Submissions

Notifications, requests, documents.

Art 2 Art 3 Art 4

Form GD content, how an effective notification is dated, when changes restart the clock, and the format and length rules in Annex II that apply across the board.

III
Chapter III · Proceedings

Opening an investigation.

Art 5

The Commission may open Article 29 non-compliance proceedings at any point up to the moment it issues preliminary findings. The opening is made public.

IV
Chapter IV · Heard & File

The right to be heard, perfected.

Art 6 Art 7 Art 8

Reply rules, the protection of business secrets, and the unique dual-tier access regime that lets external counsel see unredacted material the addressee cannot.

V
Chapter V · Time

How deadlines actually work.

Art 9 Art 10

Time limits use Regulation 1182/71 with one twist: periods start on the working day after the relevant event. Reasoned extension requests must arrive before expiry.

VI
Chapter VI · Final

Transmission and entry into force.

Art 11 Art 12

Digital filing with qualified e-signature is the default. Documents are deemed received when the Commission acknowledges receipt. Live since 2 May 2023.

§ 03 · Annex I

Inside Form GD.

Form GD is the gatekeeper-designation notification: the document an undertaking files when it meets the Article 3(2) thresholds. Five sections. Click each to see the fields the Commission expects.

Click any item to inspect
01
Notifying undertakingIdentity, structure, contact
02
Core platform servicesInventory and delineation
03
Test (a) · SizeTurnover, market cap, geography
04
Tests (b) & (c) · UsersActive end-users and business users
05
DeclarationSigned truthfulness undertaking
§ 04 · Annex II

Format, and the discipline of brevity.

The Commission asks for compressed submissions. A4 only, 12-point body, single line spacing, 2.5 cm margins, page numbers consecutive. Annexes with a purely evidentiary function do not count toward limits.

Page
A4
One side only, single line spacing
Body font
12pt min
Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial
Footnotes
10pt min
Same families as body
Margins
2.5cm
All four sides
Density cap
4,700
Characters per page maximum
Notification per core service
Annex II(a) · Form GD §§ 2, 4
50pp
Article 3(5) rebuttal arguments
Annex II(b) · per service
30pp
Reasoned requests under Arts 9, 10 DMA
Annex II(c) · suspension & exemption
30pp
Reply to Commission preliminary findings
Annex II(d) · or PF length, whichever higher
50pp
§ 05 · The lifecycle

From notification to decision.

A simplified procedural arc, from the first conversation with the Commission through to the moment a non-compliance decision is taken. Each stage carries its own time limits, formal acts, and procedural rights.

Stage 01
Pre-notification contact
An undertaking that expects to meet the thresholds may engage with the Commission before filing, to align on scope and methodology.
Recital 2 · Informal
Stage 02
Form GD filed
Notification under Article 3(3) DMA. Triggers the designation timeline. Must be accurate, complete, and not misleading.
Art 2 · Annex I
Stage 03
Effective date set
If material information is missing, the clock pauses until completeness is restored. Material new facts during review can reset it.
Art 3
Stage 04
Designation or proceedings
The Commission designates within 45 working days under Art 3(4) DMA, or opens an Article 29 non-compliance investigation if conduct rules are breached after designation.
Art 5 · DMA Art 29
Stage 05
Preliminary findings
If proceedings open, the Commission communicates its provisional position. The right to be heard is triggered. Access to the file may be requested.
DMA Art 34(1)
Stage 06
Reply & final decision
The addressee replies in up to 50 pages within the time limit. The Commission then adopts a decision finding compliance, non-compliance, or imposing remedies.
Art 6 · DMA Arts 29, 30
§ 06 · Article 8

Two doors into the file.

The Implementing Regulation introduces a dual-tier access regime that is unusual in EU procedure. The addressee gets one set of documents. A small group of named external advisors gets a richer one, in a controlled data room, under terms set by Commission decision.

Tier A · Standard access

To the addressee, with redactions.

Every document mentioned in the preliminary findings is provided directly to the undertaking, with business secrets and other confidential information redacted under Article 7.

  • Triggered by: notification of the preliminary findings. Access cannot be granted before that moment.
  • Scope: documents cited in the preliminary findings, in non-confidential form.
  • Use: exercise of the right to be heard in the same proceedings or related court review.
  • Format: typically electronic; physical inspection at Commission premises is permitted.
Art 8(1), 8(2) · with Art 7 redactions
Tier B · Data room

To external counsel, unredacted.

A named, limited circle of external legal counsel, economic counsel, and technical experts may inspect the entire file without redactions, under disclosure terms set by Commission decision.

  • Who qualifies: external advisors not currently employed by the addressee, named in advance, bound personally by the disclosure terms.
  • Conflict barrier: if a named advisor takes employment with the addressee or a competitor during the investigation or in the three years after it ends, the Commission must be told and the advisor must confirm they no longer hold the file material.
  • Use: only for the proceedings concerned. No onward disclosure to anyone not bound by the terms.
  • Limit valve: the Commission may withhold or partly redact documents where the harm of disclosure outweighs the value of full access (Art 8(4)).
Art 8(3) · disclosure decision required
◇ One-week feedback window · Article 8(5)
External counsel admitted to the data room have one week from receiving access to ask the Commission, with reasons, for a non-confidential version of any further document on the file, or for the disclosure terms to be extended to additional named advisors. Such requests are granted exceptionally, and only where indispensable for the addressee's right to be heard.
§ 07 · Article 7

How business secrets survive disclosure.

Submitting documents to the Commission is treated as consent that the documents may be made accessible under Article 8. Confidentiality is not lost. It is managed through a four-step process that puts the burden on the originator to identify what is sensitive.

i.

Originator flags

The Commission may require any natural or legal person whose documents are on file to identify, document by document, what they consider business-secret or confidential.

Art 7(3)
ii.

Substantiate & redact

Within a deadline, the originator must justify each claim, supply a redacted non-confidential version, and describe each redaction concisely and clearly.

Art 7(4)
iii.

Default if silent

Failure to comply with the request lets the Commission treat the documents as containing no business secrets. Silence forfeits the protection.

Art 7(5)
iv.

Disclosure decision

If the Commission concludes information is not in fact confidential, or that an overriding interest justifies disclosure, the originator gets one week to object before a reasoned decision is taken.

Art 7(6)
◊ Third-party comments · the inverted default
Comments submitted by third parties on a Commission publication or consultation under DMA Articles 8(6), 18(5) and (6), 19(2) and 29(4) are presumed non-confidential for the purposes of access to file. The contributor retains a narrower protection: they may request that their name and other identifying information be redacted before the comment is shared with the addressee or with any other third party. (Article 7(7), this Regulation.)
§ 08 · Procedural levers

What the Commission can do.

Three of the most consequential procedural levers under the Implementing Regulation, each of which can affect the timing or shape of a proceeding without being a final decision.

Stop the clock

If a notification is materially incomplete, the Commission tells the undertaking and the notification only becomes effective when complete information arrives. The same applies on a service-by-service basis where the filing covers more than one core platform service.
Art 3(1) · Art 3(2)

Exempt from a field

On reasoned request, the Commission may exempt an undertaking from supplying a specific document or piece of information for Form GD, where it considers the obligation unnecessary for the designation assessment.
Art 2(8)

Authorise extra pages

Where particularly complex legal or factual issues make compliance with Annex II length limits objectively impossible, the Commission may authorise extension on reasoned request. The bar is high. The default is brevity.
Art 4(2)
§ 09 · Cross-reference

Mapping 2023/814 to its parent.

The Implementing Regulation is procedural plumbing. Every article exists to operationalise a substantive provision of the Digital Markets Act (Regulation 2022/1925). Use the filters to navigate by chapter, then click any row to trace a procedural rule back to the DMA article it serves.

Reg. 2023/814 What it does Implements (DMA)
Art 2(1)
Form GD content for gatekeeper-designation notifications, with all required fields in Annex I.
→Art 3(3) ¶1
Art 2(2)
Submission of information following a Commission request, with the Commission specifying which Annex I sections to complete.
→Art 3(3) ¶2
Art 2(3)
Annex with substantiated arguments rebutting the gatekeeper presumption despite meeting the Article 3(2) thresholds.
→Art 3(5)
Art 2(5)
Identification of confidential parts of a filing in a separately marked "Business Secrets" document.
→Art 36
Art 2(8)
Reasoned-request exemption from specific Form GD documents or fields where the Commission considers them unnecessary for assessment.
→Art 3(4)
Art 3
Effective date of notifications: when material gaps reset the clock, and how mid-review changes are handled.
→Arts 3(3), 3(4)
Art 4
Format and length: the Annex II rules. A4, 12-point body, 4,700 characters per page maximum, page-limit ladder.
→All filings
Art 5
Opening of proceedings: timing flexible up to issuance of preliminary findings; the act of opening is made public.
→Art 29
Art 6
Written observations by the addressee on preliminary findings, within the Commission's time limit, in Annex II format.
→Art 34(1), 34(2)
Art 7
Identification and protection of confidential information: claims, redactions, default-on-silence, disclosure-decision pathway.
→Art 36
Art 8(2)
Standard file access: documents cited in the preliminary findings, redacted to protect Article 7 information.
→Art 34(4)
Art 8(3)
External-counsel data room: unredacted access for named advisors under disclosure-decision terms, with three-year conflict-of-interest perimeter.
→Art 34(4)
Art 8(4)
Withholding-or-redacting valve where the harm of disclosure would outweigh its value, including for sensitive Member-State or third-country correspondence.
→Art 34(4)
Art 8(8)
Use restriction: documents accessed under either tier may only be used in the proceedings concerned or related judicial review.
→Art 34, Art 36
Art 9
Beginning of time periods: Regulation 1182/71 applies, with the working-day-after-event start rule for procedural acts.
→All deadlines
Art 10
Setting and extension of time limits: balance of right-to-be-heard and proceeding expediency; reasoned extension request must arrive before expiry.
→All deadlines
Art 11
Digital transmission as default, with qualified electronic signatures under Regulation 910/2014. Deemed-received-on-acknowledgement rule.
→All filings
Art 12
Entry into force on 2 May 2023, directly applicable in all Member States.
→Art 46(1)