Europe cannot bow down to Trump when applying digital rules to Big Tech

Reacting to the last-minute withdrawal by the European Commission of its announcement regarding Google's adtech fine, the S&D group once again warns the European Commission not to yield to the threats and to enforce the digital acquis as intended.

As reported in the media today, the European Commission pulled back a fine for Alphabet (Google) over the misuse of its powerful position in the online advertisement market. The company was put on notice last Friday, following an investigation that began in 2021, which could have led to a fine or even an order to sell off Google's AdTech business.

This comes after reports last week that the US government is considering imposing sanctions on EU and member state officials who enforce digital rules like the Digital Services Act (DSA) or the Digital Markets Act (DMA). US President Donald Trump has also threatened to impose extra tariffs on imports from countries that apply digital taxes, rules, and regulations unless these measures are removed.

The S&D Group has requested to debate the enforcement of the European tech laws with regard to the EU-US trade tensions at the upcoming plenary session in Strasbourg next week.

Alex Agius Saliba MEP, vice-president of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, responded in the strongest possible terms:

"It is unacceptable not to enforce our rules on certain companies due to intimidation from the US administration. This undermines the rule of law and the functioning of the internal market. When the European Commission concludes after four years of investigation, that Google is in breach of the rules, it should be fined or even broken up due to its monopolistic power in the European advertisement market - no matter how angry it makes President Trump.

"We have known since January that the Trump administration has targeted European digital rules to protect US Big Tech interests. The S&D Group has consistently warned the European Commission not to bow down to these threats and to enforce the digital acquis as intended."

Note to editors:

In transatlantic trade, the EU has a trade surplus in goods, but the US exports much more in services to the EU, most of them related to the tech services on which our daily lives rely. Over the past few years, EU legislators have put in place a regulatory framework that safeguards fundamental rights such as privacy and protects European citizens online from the adverse effects of Big Tech platforms. Since this year, the European Commission has started enforcing the Digital Services and Markets Acts, with investigations into the conduct of Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and X, which could lead to major conclusions and potential multibillion-euro fines.