Europe Is Bending the Knee to the US on Tech Policy

12 hours ago7 min read3 comments

The transatlantic relationship, a cornerstone of the post-war liberal order, is undergoing a profound and unsettling realignment, with Europe appearing to cede significant regulatory sovereignty to the United States under the weight of concerted political pressure from the Trump administration. This is not merely a minor policy adjustment; it represents a strategic retreat on the part of European regulators who have, for the better part of a decade, positioned themselves as the world's de facto sheriffs for Big Tech.The once-ambitious agenda of the European Commission, characterized by landmark legislation like the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is now showing cracks under the strain of American geopolitical and economic coercion. We are witnessing the quiet shelving of potentially restrictive measures and a discernible softening of enforcement rhetoric, a development that echoes historical precedents where European autonomy has been compromised by Washington's strategic interests.This capitulation carries the distinct whiff of the 2003 Iraq War debates, where 'Old Europe' was publicly chastised for its reluctance to fall in line, a powerful reminder that for all the talk of a multilateral partnership, the reality often defaults to a hierarchy with the U. S.firmly at the apex. The consequences are far-reaching: it emboldens the market dominance of American tech behemoths like Google, Meta, and Amazon, potentially at the expense of European competitors and consumer privacy standards.It signals to other global powers, notably China, that the Western alliance is susceptible to internal fracture when core commercial interests are threatened. Analysts in Brussels whisper of fraught closed-door meetings where the threat of trade retaliations and tariffs has forced a recalculation of cost versus principle.This is more than a policy shift; it is a fundamental test of Europe's geopolitical resolve. Will the continent, often fragmented in its foreign policy objectives, find a unified voice to defend its regulatory paradigm, or will it continue to bend the knee, allowing its digital future to be shaped increasingly in Silicon Valley and the corridors of Washington power? The integrity of the single market and the very concept of European strategic autonomy now hang in the balance, as the Old World grapples with the hard power of its most powerful ally.

#featured

#US-EU relations

#tech regulation

#Big Tech

#Trump administration

#diplomatic pressure

#policy shift

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