The European Union plans to impose its first-ever fine on tech giant Apple for allegedly violating EU laws on accessing its music streaming service。

The EU investigation was launched after music streaming app Spotify filed a formal complaint in 2019.。Spotify said it was forced to raise the price of its monthly subscription to cover costs associated with Apple's App Store rules because Apple takes a 30% share of all purchases made from the App Store.。Spotify said the policy forced it to increase monthly subscription fees for premium services from 9 per month..£99 increased to 12.99 pounds。And almost at the same time, Apple launched a competing music streaming service with a monthly subscription fee of 9.99 pounds。

People familiar with the matter said the European Commission considered Apple's move illegal and a violation of EU rules to strengthen competition in the single market.。As a result, the EU formally accused Apple of anti-competitive practices in 2021.。

In an effort to placate regulators in the EU, Apple last month announced changes to its iOS mobile software, App Store and Safari browser, allowing the company to release cheaper subscription options elsewhere.。Apple said the changes "give developers options."。However, Spotify did not buy the move and said that Apple's so-called "compliance behavior" was a "complete farce."。

The EU is expected to rule Apple's actions illegal early next month and impose a fine of about 500 million euros, which will be the final result of the European Commission's antitrust investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.。

It would be one of the EU's toughest economic fines against big tech companies。Previously, the EU had been conducting an antitrust investigation against Google and fined it a total of about 8 billion euros.。

Apple has never been fined by the EU for violating antitrust laws before, but the company was fined 1.1 billion euros in France in 2020 for alleged anticompetitive behaviour.。Fines slashed to 3 after Apple appeal.7.2 billion euros。

Apple has faced multiple disputes over app store fees in recent years, including a high-profile legal dispute with Fortnite developer Epic Games。Although the California court ordered Apple to make some changes to the way its App Store operates, overall, Apple is still the winning party in this case.。

EU action against Apple will be a prelude to new EU rules。Large companies, including Apple, Amazon and Google, need to fully comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act by early next month, which will take effect on March 7 this year.。

The bill requires these tech giants to adhere to stricter rules。The bill mentions that it would be illegal for tech giants to prioritize their own services over those of competitors.。And these big tech companies will be banned from combining personal data in different services, banned from using data collected from third parties to compete with them, and must allow users to download applications from rival platforms, among other things.。