US Pressure on EU Digital Rules Could Harm Big Tech, Foment European Resistance, Experts Say

Conversely, simplifying digital rules through the European Commission-proposed digital omnibus could weaken the bloc's ability to withstand U.S. coercion, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca wrote in a Dec. 3 European Council on Foreign Relations article.

Announced Dec. 24, the U.S. decision to deny a visa to former European Commissioner Thierry Breton, considered the architect of the Digital Services Act (DSA), just as Europe "is opening regulatory pipelines that could become far more convenient for American Big Tech" risks becoming a "resounding political own goal," Genna said.

With the Breton visa denial, "the political risk is now clear: a fine-tuning process which could have favored a more pragmatic rebalancing, could instead translate into regulatory tightening" as the European Parliament and Council find themselves less inclined to soften the laws and more tempted to shield the most sensitive parts of the regulation, Genna wrote.

Additionally, in April, the EC announced an initiative for 2026 on the development of cloud and AI, with the idea of boosting European capabilities in domains largely dominated by American players, Genna said.

If Brussels and key European capitals perceive the visa denial as a direct attack on a figure who symbolized European digital sovereignty, it's easier for proponents of protectionist measures to invoke the need to "defend" European regulation from external pressure, Genna added.

EU drafters of the final digital omnibus and the Future Cloud/AI measures currently have political flexibility, but the U.S. action against Breton risks Europe moving away from technical adjustments to an identity-based opposition between the "European model" and "American model" of digital regulation, he said.

The EU presented the proposed digital omnibus package to the U.S. on Nov. 24, Torreblanca wrote. Its pro-business language and deregulatory aims "were not enough to please the Americans," and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick "was quick to dismiss the proposal outright."

The omnibus proposal seeks to reduce regulatory burdens in a broad range of EU digital regulations, including the GDPR and AI Act, Torreblanca wrote. The measure reduces privacy protection and AI safety regulations, a long-sought goal of U.S. Big Tech, he said. However, he added, this is flawed thinking, since the omnibus will "further weaken the EU's ability to withstand US pressure."

The simplification package "effectively accepts the core accusation from the US and its big tech: that Europe lags in innovation because it regulates too much," according to Torreblanca. But Europe's innovation gap is rooted in persistent internal market barriers and the lack of mechanisms to keep European savings and skills in Europe rather than flowing to the U.S., he added.

EU and U.S. competition authorities have repeatedly shown that it's the concentration of market power among a handful of U.S. tech giants that stifles innovation and keeps new players out, Torreblanca said. That's why heavy fines are levied on the firms and why they're lobbying to pressure the U.S. administration to water down EU antitrust rules, he said.

By adopting a narrative aligned with BIg Tech's interests, the EU is undermining the very feature that makes its regulatory model globally attractive -- its commitment to putting social goals and fundamental rights ahead of commercial interests, Torreblanca said. And by focusing on "simplification," the EU overlooks the real weakness of its digital governance, the insufficient enforcement of existing rules, he added.

Under the GDPR, enforcement is stalled because of the ventral role of Ireland, where American Big Tech is headquartered and gets more favorable treatment, Torreblanca argued. Similarly, DSA enforcement is fragmented, slow and inconsistent, which allows platforms such as X, Meta and TikTok to avoid meaningful accountability for amplifying polarizing content or exposing minors to harm, he said.

The EU should understand that its weakness with regard to the U.S. stems not only from its huge technology dependencies but also from the absence of strong tools, political coalitions and political will to resist pressure from the U.S. government and its big tech firms, he said.

Any simplification agenda in the digital area should be matched by "credible and robust enforcement," Torreblanca added.