Over the past decade and a half, the EU has taken an incremental approach towards addressing the ever-growing power of the tech giants. The European Commission has opted for modest measures in response to Big Tech’s abuses, with tougher interventions only being contemplated as a last resort. This incrementalism is evident in the application of targeted measures for specific illegal behavior against the same corporations over many years, and a reliance on narrow and weak remedies. This approach has failed to address the root of the problem – the tech giants’ monopolisation of essential digital services and infrastructure. As a result, the EU has been unable to meaningfully dent Big Tech’s dominance, which has only grown. Instead, Big Tech has pursued a strategy of systematic non-compliance, supported by a growing army of lobbyists and lawyers.
The EU now faces two choices: to stand firm or to succumb to orchestrated pressure from Big Tech and its political allies. The latter would not only embolden the Trump administration and Big Tech but also send a terrible signal to the European tech sector as well. Without rigorous enforcement to break open the tech giants’ walled gardens, European entrepreneurs and innovators have little chance of launching and scaling their ideas. The EU’s dangerous dependency on U.S. technology would only increase, along with all of the implications that has for the continent’s prosperity, security and sovereignty.
Instead, the EU needs to double down on its digital rulebook and competition powers, ensuring that ongoing investigations continue at full pace while simultaneously considering bolder measures. Three specific tools which the European Commission should consider making use of are bans on market access, corporate breakups, and trade restrictions under the new anti-coercion instrument.
Reluctance to challenge and where necessary break up the monopoly power that these tech giants enjoy, be this under the DMA or competition law, will jeopardise – perhaps permanently – the prospects of building a thriving European tech industry grounded in European values, with potentially irreversible consequences for Europe’s prosperity and sovereignty as a whole.
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