Apple may be close to settling its current antitrust case with the European Commission, which could mean escaping the threat of daily financial penalties over App Store policies.

Apple is currently in the middle of an antitrust battle with the European Union over non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). If a vague report on Tuesday is to be believed, the two sides are finally getting close to agreeing on settling the matter.

Apple, as well as Meta, are in the last stages of making a deal with the EU regulator, reports the Financial Times. Actually achieving the settlement will be beneficial to Apple, in that it won't be subjected to escalating daily penalties.

At its worst, this could've resulted in a fine against Apple to the tune of about $58 million every day. Apple has already been hit with an initial fine of $570 million in April.

People familiar with the negotiations told the report that there hasn't been a final decision yet, but there is hope of a settlement soon. What timetable "soon" encompasses isn't clear.

Rule adjustments

The EU's issue with Apple has been how its App Store policies handled developer fees and anti-steering rules. In June, at the end of a deadline to comply with the DMA, Apple insisted it was implementing a plan to make changes.

These included adjusting its anti-steering rules to allow developers to publicize offers for alternative payment platforms within their apps. Rather than just one link to their website, the policy changed to allow multiple links, potentially to other apps and websites.

There was also Apple's 27% Core Technology Fee, which was intended as a fee payable if developers used third-party payment processors instead of Apple's In-App Purchases mechanism. Rather than paying the 30% IAP fee, Apple expected developers to pay the 27% version.

After EU complaints, Apple partially relented. Instead of the Core Technology Fee, it would charge three other fees.

The Initial Acquisition Fee, Store Services Fee, and a revised Core Technology Fee or Core Technology Commission were outlined, which potentially cost developers up to 20% of the in-app purchase price.

At the time, it was thought that the changes would be enough to satisfy the European Commission and avoid more fines.

Apple says that the first set of fees were instituted after it tried to consult with the European Commission. It's not clear if there was a constructive response to Apple's queries.

Apple claims that the EU hasn't been helpful while working out what's in compliance with the DMA's moving target style of enforcement.

Policy goalposts

Since Apple's June changes plan, the EU has held back from issuing more fines. That may have been in part due to the threat from the United States if the EU "discriminates" against U.S. companies, at the same time as the EU trying to strike a trade deal.

Apple's changes may have been enough on their own.

"We did what we had to do to avoid the threat of future significant fines," said Apple chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer in June.

While Apple has tried to appease the EU, it has done so begrudgingly. It has complained that the EU has been shifting the policy goalposts on what it had to do to be in compliance.

Apple said that, while it believed it was compliant, it appealed the decision because it "goes far beyond what the law requires."

The Commission insists it has continued to work with Apple to ensure fair compliance. It has not shared more details about how it is working with Apple, however.

"Compliance means that developers get a real choice and that users get a real choice," the Commission said. "Not buried under a maze of dark patterns from gatekeepers."

The Commission is still working to collect data from other stakeholders which are supposed to include Apple, to determine if Apple's changes are enough — but has already said that it will ignore Apple's feedback. It also warned that if Apple continues to be in breach, "all options remain on the table," including the threat of daily penalties.