June 2 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) has submitted a legal

challenge to an EU order to open up its closed ecosystem to

rivals such as Meta and Alphabet's Google,

saying the demands are unreasonable and hamper innovation.

The European Commission had in March detailed how

Apple ( AAPL ) must comply

with the Digital Markets Act, which aims to rein in the

power of Big Tech.

Apple ( AAPL ) said the EU's interoperability requirements create

"a process that is unreasonable, costly, and stifles

innovation".

"These requirements will also hand data-hungry companies

sensitive information, which poses massive privacy and security

risks to our EU users," it said in a statement.

"These deeply flawed rules that only target Apple ( AAPL ) - and

no other company - will severely limit our ability to deliver

innovative products and features to Europe, leading to an

inferior user experience for our European customers."

Meta, Google, Spotify ( SPOT ) and Garmin are

among companies that have requested access to Apple ( AAPL ) users' data.

The legal fight will likely take years to play out in

court. Until then, Apple ( AAPL ) will have to comply with the EU order.

The Commission ordered Apple ( AAPL ) to give rival makers of

smartphones, headphones and virtual reality headsets access to

its technology and mobile operating system so they can connect

with Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhones and iPad tablets.

It also set out a detailed process and timeline for

Apple ( AAPL ) to respond to interoperability requests from app

developers.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)