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Will European leadership ever stand up to the US administration and American tech giants? Present inaction is not just a regulatory or economic shortcoming: it represents a ethical collapse. This inaction calls into question the very foundation of Europe's democratic identity. The central issue is not only the fate of companies like Google or Meta, but the fundamental idea that Europe has the right to regulate its own digital space according to its own rules.

The Path to This Point

To begin, it's important to review how we got here. During the summer, the European Commission agreed to a humiliating agreement with the US that locked in a ongoing 15% tax on EU exports to the US. Europe gained no concessions in return. The embarrassment was compounded because the commission also agreed to provide more than $1tn to the US through investments and purchases of resources and military materiel. This arrangement revealed the vulnerability of the EU's reliance on the US.

Less than a month later, Trump warned of severe new tariffs if Europe enforced its regulations against US tech firms on its own territory.

Europe's Claim vs. Reality

Over many years Brussels has asserted that its market of 450 million rich people gives it significant sway in trade negotiations. But in the six weeks since Trump's threat, Europe has done little. Not a single retaliatory measure has been implemented. No invocation of the new trade defense tool, the so-called “trade bazooka” that the EU once promised would be its ultimate protection against foreign pressure.

Instead, we have polite statements and a fine on Google of less than 1% of its yearly income for established market abuses, already proven in American legal proceedings, that enabled it to “abuse” its dominant position in the EU's digital ad space.

American Strategy

The US, under Trump's leadership, has made its intentions clear: it does not aim to strengthen EU institutions. It seeks to undermine it. An official publication published on the US Department of State's platform, written in alarmist, inflammatory language similar to Viktor Orbán's speeches, accused Europe of “systematic efforts against Western civilization itself”. It criticized alleged limitations on authoritarian parties across the EU, from German political movements to Polish organizations.

Available Tools for Response

How should Europe respond? The EU's trade defense mechanism works by assessing the extent of the coercion and imposing retaliatory measures. Provided EU member states agree, the EU executive could remove US products out of Europe's market, or impose taxes on them. It can remove their intellectual property rights, prevent their financial activities and require compensation as a requirement of re-entry to EU economic space.

The tool is not merely economic retaliation; it is a declaration of political will. It was designed to demonstrate that the EU would never tolerate foreign coercion. But now, when it is most crucial, it remains inactive. It is not the powerful weapon promised. It is a symbolic object.

Internal Disagreements

In the period preceding the transatlantic agreement, many European governments talked tough in official statements, but did not advocate the instrument 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 implement its regulations, even when they are challenging. Along with the trade tool, Europe should shut down social media “recommended”-style systems, that recommend material the user has not asked for, on EU territory until they are demonstrated to be secure for democracy.

Comprehensive Approach

The public – not the automated systems of foreign oligarchs serving foreign interests – should have the freedom to decide for themselves about what they see and distribute online.

The US administration is pressuring the EU to water down its online regulations. But now especially important, the EU should make large US tech firms responsible for distorting competition, snooping on Europeans, and preying on our children. Brussels must ensure certain member states accountable for failing to enforce Europe's online regulations on US firms.

Enforcement is not enough, however. Europe must gradually substitute all non-EU “major technology” services and cloud services over the coming years with homegrown alternatives.

The Danger of Inaction

The real danger of this moment is that if Europe does not take immediate action, it will never act again. The longer it waits, the deeper the decline of its self-belief in itself. The increasing acceptance that resistance is futile. The greater the tendency that its regulations are not binding, its institutions not sovereign, its political system dependent.

When that happens, the route to authoritarianism becomes unavoidable, through automated influence on social media and the normalisation of misinformation. If Europe continues to remain passive, it will be drawn into that same decline. The EU must take immediate steps, not only to push back against US pressure, but to create space for itself to function as a free and sovereign entity.

Global Implications

And in doing so, it must plant a flag that the rest of the world can see. In Canada, South Korea and Japan, democratic nations are observing. They are questioning if the EU, the remaining stronghold of international cooperation, will stand against foreign pressure or surrender to it.

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

But if Europe hesitates, if it continues to issue polite statements, to levy symbolic penalties, to hope for a improved situation, it will have effectively surrendered.