BRUSSELS, June 27 (Reuters) - Zalando (ZALG.DE), Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, on Tuesday sued the European Commission for putting it in the same category as Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Meta Platforms (META.O) regarding new and tough EU online content rules.
Under rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) which came into force last year, Zalando was labelled a very large online platform (VLOP) because it has more than 45 million users.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton in April labelled 19 online platforms and search engines including five Alphabet subsidiaries, two Meta units, two Microsoft (MSFT.O) businesses, Twitter, Alibaba's (9988.HK) AliExpress and Zalando as VLOPs.
"The European Commission misinterpreted our user numbers and failed to acknowledge our mainly retail business model.
The number of European visitors who connect with our Partners is far below the DSA's threshold to be considered as a VLOP," Zalando CEO Robert Gentz said in a statement.
Persons:
Zalando, Thierry Breton, Germany's Zalando, Robert Gentz, Breton, Gentz, Foo Yun, Christina Fincher
Organizations:
Tuesday, European Commission, Google, Digital Services, Microsoft, Twitter, HK, Justice, European Union, Commission, Partners, Thomson
Locations:
BRUSSELS, Luxembourg