Opera Loses Bid to Place Microsoft Edge Under Stricter EU Antitrust Rules

10:52 AM EDT, 09/02/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The General Court of the European Union sided with the European Commission in determining that Microsoft's (MSF.F) Edge browser does not meet the criteria to be subject to the bloc's stringent antitrust rules for technology services. The court dismissed the lawsuit filed by Opera Norway (2V8.F), owner of Edge rival Opera, that sought to challenge the commission's decision not to designate Microsoft as a so-called gatekeeper under the EU's Digital Markets Act in relation to its Edge web browser, according to a Wednesday release. "The Commission did not err in considering that, although Microsoft had met the quantitative thresholds laid down in the DMA, it had put forward sufficiently substantiated arguments to demonstrate that Edge did not constitute an important gateway," the court said, noting the browser's "low scale of usage" compared with rivals. The court also noted that Microsoft has a reduced ability to fully control key aspects of Edge due to the browser's reliance on the Blink engine. Microsoft and Opera did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires.