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Can the EU finally resist the US administration and US big tech? Present inaction goes beyond a legal or financial failure: it represents a ethical failure. This inaction undermines the bedrock of the EU's democratic identity. The central issue is not merely the future of companies like Google or Meta, but the principle that Europe has the authority to regulate its own digital space according to its own rules.

Background Context

To begin, consider how we got here. During the summer, the EU executive accepted a humiliating agreement with Trump that locked in a ongoing 15% tax on EU exports to the US. The EU gained no concessions in return. The embarrassment was compounded because the EU also consented to direct more than $1tn to the US through investments and purchases of resources and defense equipment. The deal exposed the fragility of the EU's dependence on the US.

Less than a month later, Trump warned of crushing additional taxes if Europe implemented its laws against US tech firms on its own soil.

The Gap Between Rhetoric and Action

For decades Brussels has claimed that its market of 450 million affluent people gives it unanswerable leverage in international commerce. But in the month and a half since Trump's threat, the EU has done little. No retaliatory measure has been taken. No invocation of the new anti-coercion instrument, the often described “trade bazooka” that Brussels once vowed would be its primary shield against external coercion.

By contrast, we have polite statements and a fine on Google of under 1% of its yearly income for established anticompetitive behaviour, already proven in US courts, that enabled it to “abuse” its dominant position in Europe's advertising market.

American Strategy

The US, under the current administration, has signaled its goals: it does not aim to support European democracy. It aims to weaken it. An official publication published on the US State Department platform, composed in alarmist, inflammatory language similar to Hungarian leadership, charged the EU of “an aggressive campaign against Western civilization itself”. It criticized alleged limitations on political groups across the EU, from the AfD in Germany to Polish organizations.

Available Tools for Response

How should Europe respond? The EU's trade defense mechanism works by assessing the extent of the pressure and imposing retaliatory measures. If most European governments agree, the European Commission could remove US products out of the EU market, or impose tariffs on them. It can remove their intellectual property rights, block their investments and require compensation as a requirement of readmittance to EU economic space.

The instrument is not only financial response; it is a declaration of determination. It was created to signal that Europe would always resist external pressure. But now, when it is most crucial, it lies unused. It is not a bazooka. It is a paperweight.

Political Divisions

In the months leading to the EU-US trade deal, many European governments talked tough in public, but did not advocate the mechanism to be used. Others, including Ireland and Italy, openly advocated more conciliatory approach.

A softer line is the worst option that Europe needs. It must enforce its laws, even when they are inconvenient. In addition to the trade tool, Europe should shut down social media “recommended”-style algorithms, that suggest material the user has not asked for, on European soil until they are proven safe for democracy.

Comprehensive Approach

Citizens – not the algorithms of foreign oligarchs serving foreign interests – should have the autonomy to decide for themselves about what they see and distribute online.

The US administration is putting Europe under pressure to water down its digital rulebook. But now more than ever, Europe should make large US tech firms responsible for anti-competitive market rigging, snooping on Europeans, and preying on our children. Brussels must ensure certain member states responsible for not implementing Europe's online regulations on US firms.

Regulatory action is insufficient, however. Europe must gradually substitute all non-EU “major technology” platforms and computing infrastructure over the coming years with homegrown alternatives.

The Danger of Inaction

The real danger of the current situation is that if Europe does not take immediate action, it will never act again. The longer it waits, the deeper the erosion of its self-belief in itself. The more it will believe that opposition is pointless. The greater the tendency that its regulations are unenforceable, its institutions not sovereign, its democracy not self-determined.

When that occurs, the path to authoritarianism becomes inevitable, through automated influence on social media and the acceptance of lies. If the EU continues to cower, it will be pulled toward that same abyss. Europe must act now, not only to push back against Trump, but to create space for itself to function as a independent and autonomous power.

International Perspective

And in doing so, it must make a statement that the international community can see. In North America, Asia and Japan, democracies are watching. They are wondering if the EU, the last bastion of international cooperation, will stand against external influence or yield to it.

They are inquiring whether democratic institutions can endure when the most powerful democracy in the world abandons them. They also see the example of Brazilian leadership, who faced down US pressure and demonstrated that the way to deal with a bully is to respond firmly.

But if the EU hesitates, if it continues to issue diplomatic communications, to impose symbolic penalties, to anticipate a better future, it will have already lost.