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Will Brussels finally stand up to Donald Trump and American tech giants? Present passivity goes beyond a regulatory or economic failure: it represents a ethical collapse. This inaction throws into question the bedrock of the EU's political sovereignty. The central issue is not merely the fate of firms such as Google or Meta, but the fundamental idea that the European Union has the authority to regulate its own digital space according to its own laws.

Background Context

First, it's important to review the events leading here. During the summer, the EU executive accepted a humiliating deal with Trump that locked in a ongoing 15% tax on European goods to the US. Europe received nothing in return. The embarrassment was all the greater because the commission also agreed to direct more than $1tn to the US through investments and acquisitions of resources and defense equipment. The deal exposed the vulnerability of the EU's reliance on the US.

Less than a month later, the US administration warned of crushing new tariffs if the EU enforced its regulations against US tech firms on its own soil.

The Gap Between Rhetoric and Action

For decades Brussels has asserted that its economic zone of 450 million rich people gives it significant sway in international commerce. But in the six weeks since Trump's threat, the EU has taken minimal action. Not a single retaliatory measure has been taken. No activation of the recently created anti-coercion instrument, the so-called “trade bazooka” that Brussels once promised would be its ultimate protection against foreign pressure.

By contrast, we have polite statements and a fine on Google of under 1% of its yearly income for established anticompetitive behaviour, previously established in American legal proceedings, that allowed it to “exploit” its dominant position in the EU's advertising market.

US Intentions

The US, under Trump's leadership, has made its intentions clear: it no longer seeks to support European democracy. It seeks to weaken it. An official publication released on the US State Department website, composed in paranoid, inflammatory language similar to Hungarian leadership, charged the EU of “an aggressive campaign against democratic values itself”. It condemned alleged restrictions on authoritarian parties across the EU, from German political movements to PiS in Poland.

The Solution: Anti-Coercion Instrument

How should Europe respond? Europe's anti-coercion instrument works by calculating the extent of the coercion and applying counter-actions. Provided most European governments consent, the EU executive could kick US goods and services out of Europe's market, or apply taxes on them. It can strip their intellectual property rights, prevent their financial activities and require compensation as a condition of readmittance to Europe's market.

The instrument is not merely financial response; it is a declaration of political will. It was designed to demonstrate that Europe would never tolerate external pressure. But now, when it is needed most, it remains inactive. It is not the powerful weapon promised. It is a paperweight.

Internal Disagreements

In the period preceding the EU-US trade deal, several EU states used strong language in public, but failed to push for the mechanism to be used. Others, including Ireland and Italy, openly advocated more conciliatory approach.

Compromise is the last thing that the EU needs. It must implement its regulations, even when they are inconvenient. In addition to the trade tool, Europe should shut down social media “recommended”-style systems, that recommend content the user has not asked for, on EU territory until they are proven safe for democracy.

Broader Digital Strategy

The public – not the algorithms of foreign oligarchs beholden to external agendas – should have the autonomy to make independent choices about what they view and distribute online.

The US administration is pressuring the EU to water down its online regulations. But now more than ever, the EU should make large US tech firms accountable for anti-competitive market rigging, snooping on Europeans, and targeting minors. Brussels must hold certain member states accountable for failing to enforce Europe's digital rules on American companies.

Regulatory action is insufficient, however. The EU must gradually substitute all non-EU “big tech” platforms and cloud services over the next decade with homegrown alternatives.

The Danger of Inaction

The real danger of the current situation is that if the EU does not act now, it will become permanently passive. The more delay occurs, the deeper the decline of its confidence in itself. The more it will believe that resistance is futile. The more it will accept that its laws are unenforceable, its governmental bodies not sovereign, its political system not self-determined.

When that occurs, the path to undemocratic rule becomes inevitable, 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 just to push back against US pressure, but to create space for itself to exist as a free and autonomous power.

Global Implications

And in taking action, it must plant a flag that the rest of the world can see. In Canada, Asia and East Asia, democratic nations are observing. They are wondering if the EU, the last bastion of international cooperation, will stand against external influence or surrender to it.

They are inquiring whether representative governments can survive when the leading democratic nation in the world abandons them. They also see the example of Lula in Brazil, who confronted US pressure and demonstrated that the way to deal with a aggressor is to hit hard.

But if the EU hesitates, if it continues to issue diplomatic communications, to levy token fines, to anticipate a better future, it will have already lost.