In Paris French President Emmanuel Macron has unleashed a sharp rebuke against the European Union’s sluggish enforcement of landmark digital regulations, accusing Brussels of buckling under American pressure in a “real geopolitical battle” over Big Tech dominance. Speaking at an event in northeastern France on Friday, Macron warned that delays in implementing the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) risk undermining Europe’s sovereignty in the digital age, just as transatlantic tensions simmer ahead of key trade talks.
“A lot of people at the Commission and member state level are scared to fight this fight because we currently have a US offensive against the DSA and DMA enforcement,” Macron declared, framing the standoff not as shadowy Russian meddling but as overt interference “plainly coming from the Americans.” His comments come amid a flurry of US lobbying efforts, including a recent Brussels visit by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who urged the EU to “roll back” its tech rules in exchange for concessions on steel and aluminum tariffs.
The DSA and DMA, which entered full force in 2024, represent the bloc’s most ambitious bid to rein in online platforms and gatekeepers like Meta, Google, Apple, and X (formerly Twitter). These laws mandate transparency in content moderation, curb anti-competitive practices, and impose hefty fines—up to 6% of global turnover—for violations. Yet Macron lambasted the pace of probes, noting that some investigations have languished open for two years, a timeline he deemed “way too slow.”
High-profile cases underscore the bottlenecks: The European Commission is scrutinizing X and Meta under the DSA for systemic risks in disinformation and illegal content, while DMA inquiries target Apple, Meta, and Google over app store policies and data interoperability. No resolutions have emerged, fueling frustration among pro-regulation voices who argue the delays hand US firms a de facto grace period.
The Commission’s digital spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, pushed back gently, affirming that the body remains “fully behind our digital legislation.” He attributed the extended timelines to the DSA’s expansive scope, which encompasses everything from algorithmic biases to advertiser protections, adding: “Some cases take a bit more time than others.”
Echoing Macron’s concerns, former EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton recently took to LinkedIn to caution lawmakers against yielding to transatlantic arm-twisting, highlighting a pattern of US pushback that dates back to the regulations’ drafting phase. Industry watchers note that American tech lobbying has intensified since the laws’ rollout, with trade delegations framing enforcement as a barrier to bilateral economic ties.
Macron’s intervention arrives at a delicate juncture, as the EU navigates post-election shifts in Washington and prepares for 2026 reviews of the DSA and DMA. Proponents of stricter oversight, including civil society groups, hail his rhetoric as a rallying cry for agility, while business lobbies warn that accelerated enforcement could stifle innovation and invite retaliation in ongoing WTO disputes.
With the Omnibus package looming to tweak GDPR and other digital rules, Macron’s call to “accelerate progress on open cases” could galvanize the Commission—or expose deeper rifts in Europe’s regulatory resolve. As one analyst put it, the battle isn’t just about bytes and algorithms; it’s about who writes the rules for the next decade of global tech.
