Report: EU to charge Apple over anti-competitive behavior this week

A new report says Apple will be publicly charged by the EU over anticompetitive behavior this week.

From The Irish Times:

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition chief, will publicly issue charges against Apple late this week over concerns that the rules it sets for developers on its App store break EU law, according to several people with direct knowledge of the announcement.

As the report notes, the case stems from a complaint filed by Spotify, one of the best streaming apps for iPhone, with the EU two years ago because of the 30% cut Apple takes from subscriptions sold through the App Store, whilst running its own competing streaming service in Apple Music.

Apple has previously said Spotify was using "its financial motivations in misleading rhetoric."

It was reported in March the body was finalizing charges in the case. From that report:

A new report says that the EU is finalizing a charge sheet against Apple over an antitrust complaint filed by Spotify.

From Reuters:

EU antitrust regulators are finalising a charge sheet against Apple triggered by a complaint by Swedish music streaming service Spotify, two people familiar with the matter said, with one saying the document may be sent to the iPhone maker before the summer.

The case is one of four opened by the European Commission into Apple in June last year and could force the company to change its lucrative business model.

No further timescale beyond "this week" is given in the report, however, if accurate we can expect a public announcement within days. The news could be a huge blow for Apple on the eve of its massive antitrust fight against Epic Games, which is due to begin next week, May 5. Epic Games is suing Apple over almost the very same issue, claims that its 30% cut of App Store sales is unlawful and that Apple has a monopoly over app distribution on iOS and the iPhone, and has also filed its own complaint against Apple with the EU.