This, Brussels argued at the time, was a price worth paying to shield the EU — and its regulatory autonomy — from future escalation from the mercurial Trump administration.
“I can only repeat, and stress how much we’ve worked to ensure that we are not touching in any way our legitimate digital regulation. That includes, of course, the Digital Markets Act, as well as the Digital Services Act, as well the digital services taxes of our member states,” a senior EU official told reporters last week after the EU executive unveiled its joint statement with the U.S.
Less than a week on, the EU is finding out the hard way that Trump’s commitments can quickly be overtaken by his ever-shifting priorities.
“Deals with the Trump administration simply do not create the kind of lasting certainty everyone is desperate for, because certainty, predictability and strict fidelity to treaties are not White House objectives,” said Dmitry Grozoubinski, a former trade diplomat and author of the book “Why Politicians Lie About Trade.”
“Given the public interest in digital regulation, the suspicion of U.S. tech giants, and how quickly this extortion is coming after what was supposed to be a glorious trade peace across the Atlantic — this may be a bridge too far for Europe,” he added.
The Commission pushed back against that interpretation.
