The European Union's highest court has given a key boost to Dutch authorities and consumers in their battle with Apple. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has confirmed that courts in the Netherlands can indeed try an antitrust case against the App Store, despite objections from the American company.
The decision does not yet address the substance of the matter, but it removes a significant obstacle for the two organizations that have spearheaded the class-action lawsuit. These foundations They are claiming damages for millions of iPhone and iPad users in the Netherlands.arguing that Apple's app store policies make apps more expensive and limit competition.
What exactly has the Court of Justice of the EU decided?
The CJEU has responded to a preliminary ruling request from a Dutch court, which questioned whether it had international jurisdiction to hear the case. With its ruling, the European court It makes clear that Dutch judges do have territorial and international jurisdiction. to examine the lawsuit against Apple related to the Netherlands App Store.
According to the resolution, the app store in question is Designed specifically for the Dutch market, it uses the Dutch language. and offers apps designed for users whose Apple ID is linked to that country, regardless of where they are physically located at the time of purchase.
For legal purposes, the CJEU considers that the The “virtual space” formed by the Dutch App Store is equivalent to the territory of the NetherlandsTherefore, the potential damage would have occurred there, which enables local courts to hear claims for allegedly anti-competitive practices.
The court emphasizes that if purchases of applications and digital services are made through that specific version of the store, The economic harm to consumers and developers is located in that national market.even if Apple is headquartered in another Member State or even outside the EU.
Who is suing Apple and what are they claiming?
The case has been brought by two Dutch foundations: Stichting Right to Consumer Justice and Stichting App Stores ClaimsBoth act on behalf of users and developers, using the collective action mechanisms available in European and Dutch law.
These organizations maintain that Apple has been applying for years excessive fees in its App Store, taking advantage of a dominant position in the iOS and iPadOS ecosystem. According to their thesis, this would have resulted in higher prices for consumers and lower margins for third-party app developers.
The economic estimate is significant: the foundations' lawyers calculate that around seven million iPhone users and another seven million iPad users would have been affected. The total amount of damages, including legal interest, is approximately, according to the estimate presented, about 637 million euros.
If the Dutch court ultimately rules in their favor, this case could become one of the The most relevant compensation cases in Europe related to app stores, in line with the increased regulatory pressure that the EU has been exerting on large technology platforms.
App Store commissions at the center of the controversy
The core of the conflict lies in the fees that Apple applies to payments and subscriptions within the App StoreDepending on the type of app, the volume of business and the program to which the developer belongs, the fees are in a range that generally goes from 15% to 30%.
The plaintiff foundations believe that these percentages are disproportionate and anti-competitive in natureas other legal proceedings have called into question, for example in the Legal blow to Apple in the UK over commissionsThey argue that the company actively discourages the use of alternative payment systems, forcing many developers to go through Apple's official channel and bear those commissions in order to offer their applications on iPhone and iPad devices.
According to the lawsuit, this scheme causes app creators to see The margin they obtain for each transaction has been reduced.This forces them to choose between absorbing the cost themselves or passing it on to the final price. In practice, this could mean more expensive apps and services for end users in the Netherlands.
European judges have not yet assessed whether these practices actually violate EU competition rules or Dutch law. However, the fact that the CJEU has Apple's attempt to halt the case on jurisdictional grounds was rejected It now allows the substance of the matter to be analyzed in greater detail in national courts.
Apple's jurisdictional argument rejected by the EU
Apple tried to halt the proceedings by claiming that The Dutch courts were not the appropriate forum to resolve the disputeThe company argued that the alleged damage did not occur in the Netherlands and that, therefore, the lawsuit should be filed in another country or even dismissed on those terms.
The CJEU has rejected this reasoning. In its ruling, the court considers that The damage occurs within the Dutch App Store's own digital environment., because it is the space in which the purchases and downloads linked to the alleged anti-competitive practices take place.
This interpretation expands the traditional understanding of territory in the digital realm, by assuming that a “virtual space” associated with a specific national market can be equated to the Member State itself for the purposes of determining judicial jurisdiction.
A spokesperson for the company stated that Apple does not agree with the decision And remember, this is solely a ruling on jurisdiction, not on guilt or innocence. The company insists it will continue to defend itself in Dutch courts, considering the accusations unfounded.
European context: regulatory pressure and the WFD on the horizon
The Dutch case is part of a broader European context, in which EU institutions have intensified their surveillance of large digital platforms and their closed ecosystemsApple is one of the main players targeted by the new EU regulations.
In particular, the company is subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires so-called "gatekeepers" to facilitate greater interoperability and avoid behaviors that could limit competition or harm users.
The Cupertino company has even stated, in declarations reported by international media, that the European regulators are constantly changing compliance requirements of the DMA, which would make it difficult to adapt to all the new rules within the established deadlines.
Apple claims to dedicate hundreds of thousands of hours of work to adapt their servicesThis includes the App Store, which is subject to regulatory requirements from Brussels and the various member states. Despite this, European authorities believe there is still a long way to go to guarantee a truly competitive environment.
Next steps in the case in the Netherlands
Following the CJEU ruling, the ball is now back in the court of the Dutch courts. The European decision serves as a guide and confirms that the procedure can continue in the Netherlandsso that national judges will have to analyze the content of the accusations now.
The foundations' legal representatives indicate that it could be held a hearing on the merits of the case towards the end of the first quarter of 2026In that phase, both Apple's practices and the actual extent of the damage suffered by the various groups of affected users will be assessed.
If the court decides that there has been a breach of competition rules and that quantifiable damage has occurred, it could open the door to a multimillion-dollar compensation for consumers and developers who acquired applications or services through the Dutch App Store.
In parallel, this litigation will serve as a reference for other processes in Europe, where several countries and organizations have shown interest in to examine the business model of app stores closely and its impact on prices, innovation, and users' freedom of choice, including historical precedents.
The decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union marks a turning point: by recognizing that the The Netherlands App Store constitutes a virtual space linked to a specific territoryEuropean justice is paving the way for national EU authorities to take stronger action against large technology companies when there are indications of abuse of market power. The case against Apple in the Netherlands will now be one of the most visible examples of the extent of this new approach to defending competition and users' rights in the European digital environment.
