Nope, that’s not what iA says, and it would be a gross misrepresentation of the DMA to be honest.
The section they’re referring to is clause 64 in the lead of the DMA[0] and it is not only limited to cases of interoperability, unlike what iA implies it doesn’t follow with a suggestion that gatekeepers can just ask if they’re unsure. Instead it states:
> In all cases, the gatekeeper and the requesting provider should ensure that interoperability does not undermine a high level of security and data protection in line with their obligations laid down in this Regulation and applicable Union law, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Directive 2002/58/EC. The obligation related to interoperability should be without prejudice to the information and choices to be made available to end users of the number-independent interpersonal communication services of the gatekeeper and the requesting provider under this Regulation and other Union law, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
That’s why one of the main criticisms of the DMA is that gatekeepers generally can’t present proposals for approval and have to wait until after implementing to see if it is to the EC’s liking.
That said, the EU has inquired about the PWA stuff[1] and it seems that the outcome of that has been that Home Screen install doesn’t need to be provided for other browsers. Allowing Apple to back down from their careful interpretation.
That's not true. The section the blog post is quoting is saying that the EC can ask another regulatory body to make a decision specifically on whether the technical implementation of interoperability requirements is sufficient.
So it's only about a very thin slice of the DMA to start with, and a slice that's not the part that Apple was intending to violate when removing PWAs, but it's also not a process that Apple could trigger or even be a party of.
As far as I know, nothing in the regulation suggests that gatekeepers can get their compliance plans pre-approved or pre-rejected.
> That's not true. The section the blog post is quoting
That's the beauty of reading: you can read more than just the quote, and read the paragraph immediately after. Or the referenced section in the law: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39565987
65 allows asking the EC for clarifications. But that process would (very explicitly) need to be public and allow input from third parties, there's no process for private feedback. In addition to that, the EC might choose to ignore the clarification requests entirely, and whatever decisions they do give are not binding.
It's certain that Apple does not have any kind of back channel approval for keeping PWAs Safari-only. That is not a possibility within the regulatory framework.
Apple didn't have to ask though, they fully knew they were breaking the law here. They are only backing down because of the pressure from the web community and from the DMA team starting an investigation.
The DMA plainly states that they have to give other browser vendors access to all features present on device, and that they cannot degrade the quality of their services.
Removing PWA support goes against both these obligations.
No back channeling is required. It's literally written in the law that you can go ahead and ask if you're unsure: https://ia.net/topics/unraveling-the-digital-markets-act Scroll to Law: Ask us if you find issues