If things in the European Union are getting worse and worse for Apple to continue offering its products and services freely, Now it is Spain from the National Commission of Markets and Competition (or CNMC from now on) which has opened an investigation into the App Store for possible anti-competitive behavior on the Apple platform.

The CNMC launched its investigation last week, alleging that Apple may be abusing its dominant position to impose unfair trading conditions on app developers. This could violate the Spanish Competition Act, as well as Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Apple has traditionally charged a 30% commission to all App Store developers who earn more than $1 million a year, and a lower 15% commission to smaller developers. This is something that many developers have complained about, raised their voices (see Epic with Fortnite) and has led to an EU regulation requiring Apple to allow apps to be installed from third-party stores or websites (although this was not the main reason).

On the other hand, in January of this same year, Apple announced some alternative conditions for EU developers, allowing them to opt for a lower commission of 10-17% (plus 3% if they choose to use the App Store payment processor). In addition, if a developer opts into these alternative terms, a basic technology fee of €0.50 per user is charged on apps with more than one million annual installs.

Apple denied allegations of unfair trading conditions In a statement to Reuters, an Apple spokesperson said that “Spanish developers of all sizes compete on a level playing field in the App Store,” and that the company “will continue to work with the Spanish Competition Authority to understand and respond to their concerns.” However, earlier this year, the European Union fined Apple $2 billion, and If Apple is found to have breached Spanish Competition Law, it could face fines of up to 10% of its profits from the year prior to the imposition of the fine.

We will see how this investigation develops as The CNMC has up to 24 months to investigate to Apple and reach a final decision. What a terrible situation this is for Cupertino in Europe.