Spotify Technology SA’s Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek escalated a long-time row with Apple Inc. after he accused it of consistently flouting the European Union’s Big Tech rules.Ek said that the iPhone maker’s attempts to step into line with the EU’s Digital Markets Act are a “farce.” Instead, he said Apple used a “well-established pattern of delaying and stalling” its compliance with the DMA, which sets strict guardrails on the behavior of the most powerful tech firms.“It is time for Europe to show that we are going to enforce the law that’s already been passed,” Ek said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, adding that crackdowns on Apple’s conduct had also become a focus for regulators in the US. EU competition chief Teresa Ribera has previously promised to rule on Apple’s compliance with the DMA by the end of March. The law gives her the power to levy fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue. But the bloc is at risk of provoking US President Donald Trump, who last week signed a memorandum threatening retaliatory tariffs against “disproportionate” penalties.Ek had come to Brussels for talks with European Commission officials working on enforcing the DMA against Apple. He’s long been a thorn in the side of the company by pressing the EU’s executive into action. After a complaint from Spotify, the commission slapped Apple with a €1.8 billion ($2 billion) fine last year for preventing music-streaming apps from informing users of cheaper deals away from the App Store, and has since probed the company under the DMA for similar failings. Apple declined to respond to Ek’s comments but referred to an earlier statement that it was “deeply concerned” about a pornography app that had been made available by a third-party app store that was set up last year in the EU.The Swedish entrepreneur is now jockeying the EU to force Apple to fairly allow alternative app stores on the iPhone — something mandated for by the DMA. In March, Apple unveiled plans that allow for alternative app marketplaces on iOS, but with conditions and new costs attached. “The way Apple ended up allowing for more stores was to make it almost universally impossible to create a new one, but then also by levying an enormous amount of fees so that it would be impossible for them to compete,” Ek said. A spokesperson for the Brussels-based commission said that proceedings against Apple are ongoing and they will be closed once the case has reached sufficient maturity. Ek’s continuing frustrations with Apple comes as Spotify had its best year of user growth in 2024 and posted an annual profit for the first time. Most of its new users came from markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, as opposed to more developed markets like North America and Europe.Cupertino, California-based Apple is still fighting with app developer Epic Games Inc. in the US, four and a half years after the maker of the popular Fortnite video game accused the technology giant of violating antitrust law.. Read more on Business by NDTV Profit.