The European Union has issued its first major fines under its antitrust legislation, the Digital Markets Act, hitting Apple and with a combined €700 million ($793 million) in penalties as part of a broader effort to rein in the influence of major tech companies operating across the bloc.

Apple was fined €500 million ($566 million) over restrictions in its App Store that the European Commission said limit competition by preventing developers from offering alternative app marketplaces. Meta received a €200 million ($227 million) fine for its controversial “consent or pay” model, which required users to either allow cross-platform data collection or pay for ad-free services — an approach regulators said does not constitute genuine consent under the law.

“These companies have fallen short of compliance,” said EU Commissioner Teresa Ribera. “We have taken firm but balanced enforcement action against both companies.”

Both Apple and Meta pushed back forcefully. Apple accused the EU of forcing it to “give away our technology for free” and of undermining user privacy and security. Meta described the decision as “a multibillion-dollar tariff” imposed through regulatory fiat, and argued that the EU was holding American firms to different standards than their Chinese and European competitors.

The Digital Markets Act, which came into effect last year, was designed to address what the EU considers systemic imbalances in the tech industry by requiring so-called gatekeeper platforms to open up to fairer competition. The Commission’s actions mark the first enforcement under the new law.

Though the fines are modest relative to the companies’ revenues — far smaller than the €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion) levied against Google last year — they arrive at a moment of rising trade tension between Washington and Brussels. The Trump administration has already imposed a 10 percent tariff on EU imports, and criticism of European regulatory policy targeting U.S. tech companies has been mounting.

A White House spokesperson has not yet commented on the latest fines, but the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a U.S.-based think tank funded in part by tech firms, called the EU’s actions a revenue grab. “The Commission’s actions today will not be well received by the Trump administration,” it said.

Meanwhile, Epic Games, long at odds with Apple over App Store policies, welcomed the decision. CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X that the ruling was “great news for app developers worldwide” and urged U.S. lawmakers to follow the EU’s lead.

Legal observers say appeals from both Apple and Meta are likely. Meta has already signaled its intent to challenge the ruling in the European Court of Justice.

As the EU moves forward with investigations into other U.S. platforms, including Google and Amazon, and prepares for possible action against Elon Musk’s X for violation of laws regulating the spread of disinformation and illicit content online, Wednesday’s fines signal a more aggressive phase in Europe’s tech oversight — one that may reverberate well beyond the continent.