Can Brussels ever resist the US administration and American tech giants? The current lack of response goes beyond a legal or financial failure: it represents a ethical collapse. This inaction undermines the very foundation of the EU's political sovereignty. What is at stake is not merely the fate of companies like Google or Meta, but the principle that the European Union has the right to govern its own digital space according to its own rules.
The Path to This Point
First, consider the events leading here. During the summer, the European Commission agreed to a one-sided deal with the US that locked in a ongoing 15% tariff on European goods to the US. Europe gained no concessions in return. The embarrassment was all the greater because the commission also consented to provide more than $1tn to the US through financial commitments and acquisitions of resources and military materiel. The deal exposed the fragility of Europe's reliance on the US.
Soon after, Trump threatened crushing new tariffs if Europe implemented its regulations against American companies on its own territory.
Europe's Claim vs. Reality
Over many years Brussels has asserted that its economic zone of 450 million affluent people gives it unanswerable leverage in trade negotiations. But in the month and a half since the US warning, the EU has taken minimal action. Not a single counter-action has been taken. No activation of the new anti-coercion instrument, the often described “trade bazooka” that Brussels once vowed would be its primary protection against external coercion.
Instead, we have polite statements and a penalty on Google of under 1% of its yearly income for established market abuses, previously established in US courts, that enabled it to “exploit” its market leadership in the EU's digital ad space.
American Strategy
The US, under the current administration, has signaled its goals: it does not aim to strengthen EU institutions. It aims to undermine it. A recent essay released on the US State Department website, composed in alarmist, bombastic rhetoric similar to Hungarian leadership, accused Europe of “systematic efforts against Western civilization itself”. It condemned supposed restrictions on political groups across the EU, from German political movements to Polish organizations.
The Solution: Anti-Coercion Instrument
What is to be done? The EU's trade defense mechanism functions through assessing the degree of the pressure and applying counter-actions. If EU member states consent, the European Commission could remove US products out of Europe's market, or apply tariffs on them. It can remove their intellectual property rights, block their financial activities and require compensation as a condition of readmittance to EU economic space.
The instrument is not merely financial response; it is a declaration of determination. It was designed to signal that Europe would always resist external pressure. But now, when it is needed most, it remains inactive. It is not a bazooka. It is a paperweight.
Political Divisions
In the months leading to the transatlantic agreement, several EU states used strong language in public, but failed to push for the mechanism to be activated. Others, such as Ireland and Italy, publicly pushed for a softer European line.
Compromise is the last thing that Europe needs. It must enforce its laws, even when they are challenging. In addition to the anti-coercion instrument, Europe should disable social media “recommended”-style systems, that suggest material the user has not requested, on EU territory until they are proven safe for democratic societies.
Comprehensive Approach
Citizens – not the automated systems of international billionaires serving foreign interests – should have the freedom to make independent choices about what they see and distribute online.
The US administration is pressuring the EU to water down its online regulations. But now more than ever, Europe should hold American technology companies accountable for distorting competition, surveillance practices, and preying on our children. EU authorities must ensure certain member states responsible for not implementing EU online regulations on US firms.
Regulatory action is insufficient, however. Europe must progressively replace all foreign “major technology” services and cloud services over the next decade with homegrown alternatives.
The Danger of Inaction
The significant risk of the current situation is that if the EU does not take immediate action, it will never act again. The more delay occurs, the more profound the erosion of its self-belief in itself. The increasing acceptance that opposition is pointless. The more it will accept that its regulations are unenforceable, its governmental bodies not sovereign, its political system not self-determined.
When that occurs, the route to authoritarianism becomes unavoidable, through automated influence on social media and the acceptance of lies. If the EU continues to remain passive, it will be pulled toward that same abyss. Europe must act now, not only to resist US pressure, but to establish conditions for itself to function as a independent and autonomous power.
International Perspective
And in taking action, it must plant a flag that the international community can see. In Canada, South Korea and East Asia, democratic nations are watching. They are wondering if the EU, the last bastion of international cooperation, will stand against foreign pressure or yield to it.
They are inquiring whether democratic institutions can survive when the leading democratic nation in the world abandons them. They also see the example of Brazilian leadership, who faced down Trump and showed that the way to deal with a aggressor is to respond firmly.
But if Europe hesitates, if it continues to release polite statements, to levy symbolic penalties, to hope for a better future, it will have effectively surrendered.
