EU Policy

Published on
03/07/2025 – 7:20 GMT+2

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The majority of French, Spanish, and German citizens want stricter EU enforcement of Big Tech, according to a new YouGov survey.

Almost two-thirds in France (63%), 59% in Germany, and 49% in Spain said EU enforcement of laws addressing Big Tech’s influence and power is too relaxed, when asked to choose between too relaxed, too strict, or about right.

Only 7% of respondents in France, 8% in Germany, and 9% in Spain felt the enforcement was too strict.

The survey, commissioned by two NGOs—People vs Big Tech and WeMove Europe—follows the EU’s 2022 adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), aimed at regulating tech giants’ impact on users and the marketplace.

Both regulations are caught up in the trade dispute between the EU and the US, in which the US has described the DSA and DMA as unjustified non-tariff barriers.

EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera told Euronews last week that the EU would not give in to US pressure on the issue.

“We are going to defend our sovereignty,” Ribera said, adding: “We will defend the way we implement our rules, we will defend a well functioning market and we will not allow anyone to tell us what to do.”

Surprisingly, the survey results also show that the survey participants believed Big Tech holds more power than the EU itself.

Half of French respondents (50%), 48% in Germany, and a majority in Spain (55%) believe that Big Tech companies are “more powerful” or “slightly more powerful” than the EU. In contrast, only 9% in France, 12% in Germany, and 15% in Spain think tech giants are “slightly less powerful” or “much less powerful.”

The survey was conducted on a sample of 2,070 respondents in France, 2,323 in Germany, and 2,077 in Spain.

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The EU and the US are moving toward an agreement that would take the form of a headline “political understanding” to resolve their tariffs dispute before a July 9th deadline, rather than a comprehensive deal, according to several diplomats and an EU official.

“If there is to be an agreement, the most realistic outcome would likely be a general framework or a ‘principle agreement’ — something that, due to time constraints, would resemble the kind of understanding the US has reached with the UK or even with China,” a senior EU diplomat said, adding: “This would not be a detailed, comprehensive trade deal, but rather a political understanding laying the groundwork for more concrete arrangements.”

The potential agreement was discussed at a behind closed doors meeting in Brussels on Monday, with European Commission officials briefing EU ambassadors about the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the US. Ambassadors were also informed of a new US counterproposal which offered  “nothing very concrete”, one of the diplomats said.

The EU and the US are under pressure from the looming 9th of July deadline, after which US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on EU imports if negotiations fail.

Since mid-March, Washington has implemented a new policy that calls into question its trade relations with partners across the globe. The US currently imposes tariffs of 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars, and 10% on all EU imports.

After weeks of fruitless discussions, negotiations between the Commission — which holds the mandate to negotiate on behalf of the 27 member states in trade matters — and the Trump administration began in mid-June, but their outcome remains in doubt.

The Commission initially proposed a zero-tariff agreement on industrial products and an offer to purchase strategic goods such as US liquefied natural gas. But it now appears to be coming to terms with a deal that would maintain a baseline 10% tariff on EU imports. Lower tariffs might then be negotiated for strategic sectors such as aircraft, for which transatlantic production lines are interdependent.

However, member states are divided over a potential deal with a baseline 10% tariff. Germany and Italy are reportedly in favour, while countries like Ireland and France remain more sceptical.

“If the US maintain 10% tariffs, there will have to be compensation on goods and products imported from the US,” French president Emmanuel Macron stated on 26 June after an EU summit, adding: “The levy must be the same — 10% for 10%, or the equivalent of 10%.”

A second EU diplomat told Euronews that the agreement could be deliberately short in order for the two parties to reach further and more detailed agreements in different sectors.

“It is not excluded that some sectors could be addressed while others are not,” an EU official said.

Commission officials also asked ambassadors to consider several scenarios, including the possibility of an “asymmetrical agreement” in which the EU would make more concessions than the US, the prospect of no deal, and the option of the EU triggering retaliatory measures.

During the same meeting with the member states, the Commission indicated that a second list of countermeasures proposed on 8 May was still under development, according to a third EU diplomat. This list was subject to feedback from industry over several weeks and member states will still need to formally adopt it.

The proposed list targets €95 billions’ worth of US products. It would come on top of a first list or retaliation which covers  €21 billions’ worth of US products and was suspended until the 14 July after Donald Trump announced a 90-Day truce in the trade dispute.

A team of Commission experts is in Washington this week to advance the negotiation.

The EU’s trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is set to travel there on Wednesday for a meeting on Thursday with his US counterparts, US secretary of commerce Howard William Lutnick  and US trade representative Jamieson Lee Greer.

On Monday, Šefčovič confirmed that the bloc had received “the first draft of the [US] proposals for the eventual agreement in principle.”

Published on 27/06/2025 – 1:22 GMT+2•Updated
1:44

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France and Germany exhibited diverging strategies in the trade dispute between the EU and the US ongoing since mid-March, following a Council summit in Brussels on Thursday. While Germany is eager to reach a swift agreement at all costs, France emphasised the important that bloc should not display weakness.

In a press conference after the summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the Council encouraged the Commission to use the remaining two weeks to come to a swift agreement. But he said that the Council had encouraged von der Leyen to pursue the EU’s own countermeasures if necessary. He said it was important to conclude something quickly and flagged the risks to the auto, chemicals and pharma sectors if 9 July arrives and the Trump tariffs take effect.

“My hope is that we can reach a swift conclusion,” French President Emmanuel Macron said after an EU summit on Thursday in Brussels, adding: “However, this willingness should not be mistaken for weakness. We want to conclude quickly because it serves our collective interest, supports the stability of international trade, and benefits our businesses—but not at any price.”

On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the Commission’s strategy as overly technical and called for accelerating the negotiations by focusing on strategic sectors such as automobiles, steel, and energy, chemicals and pharma.

The US currently imposes 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and a 10% baseline on all EU imports.

Negotiations between the US and the EU have gained momentum since President Donald Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met at the G7 summit in Canada on 16 June, as the critical 9 July deadline approaches, after which Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on all EU imports.

On Thursday evening, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced to EU member states that she had received a US counter-proposal to the EU’s offer, though she did not disclose any details.

For several months, the EU has been offering the US a zero-for-zero tariff deal on all industrial products, along with commitments to purchase strategic goods such as liquid natural gas and soybeans.

However, few believe that securing 0% tariffs from the US is still a realistic possibility. “Since they decided to impose multiple tariffs on their trade partners across the globe, the US now has an appetite for the revenue that tariffs generate,” an EU official said, implying that the US rejected the EU offer.

The Commission is now reconsidering its approach to a future tariff-based deal, though the specific terms have yet to be determined. “The prevailing assumption is that a 10% tariff might be the benchmark,” an EU diplomat said.

“On some areas 10% is not so much, the EU imposes 10% on a lot of imports of cars, whether they are Chinese or Japanese,” another EU official told Euronews, adding that “for other products, such as aircraft, it’s much more complicated because the production line is very interdependent between the US and the EU. That’s why, you need a granular analysis.”

If the EU manages to reach an agreement by 9 July, it will not be a comprehensive agreement, two senior EU diplomats said.

“The most realistic outcome would likely be a general framework or a “principled agreement”, due to time constraints,” an EU diplomat commented.

Published on
24/06/2025 – 18:17 GMT+2

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The Brazilian ambassador to the EU has told MEPs in Brussels that a disinformation campaign surrounds the trade deal signed in December 2024 between the EU and the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva strenuously countered the arguments of the deal’s critics during a hearing of the Parliament’s trade committee on Tuesday.

“The occurrence of animal diseases is much higher in the EU than in Brazil. It shows the need to check the veracity of some narratives,” the ambassador said, holding up a sheet of paper and adding: “In any case, I need to stress that nothing in the agreement changes the right of the EU and its member states to protect human, animal, or plant health.”

The Mercosur agreement aims to establish a transatlantic free trade zone encompassing 750 million people and nearly one-fifth of the global economy.

The EU member states have yet to adopt the deal, but some – led by France – oppose it, facing strong domestic resistance from environmental activists and farmers who argue that it would create unfair competition and fail to uphold environmental and phytosanitary standards.

“The debate about this agreement has not always been a balanced one. Some people want to apply a unique benchmark to Mercosur and ask us to engage in an endless loop of negotiations,” Da Costa E Silva said.

He denounced what he described as unfair treatment of the deal when compared to others the EU has negotiated – citing recent agreements between the EU with Chile or Mexico, and those under discussion with India and the US – claiming these haven’t faced the same kinds of “accusations, and unreasonable demands and expectations”.

The ambassador also sought to counter the arguments raised by farmers concerned that their Brazilian counterparts would gain unfair competitive advantages.

“The [market] access we received in products considered sensitive by the European producers is very limited,” he said. And he claimed that some Brazilian standards are more stringent than European. “For example: the share of land that our farmers need to set aside for the protection of native vegetation varies from 20% of their properties in the south of Brazil to 80% in the Amazon region. This is far beyond the requirements asked of European farmers.”

Published on
20/06/2025 – 8:00 GMT+2

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The German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI) wants only completed products aircraft and helicopters to be targeted by the EU for retaliatory tariffs – leaving the market for the supply of parts unscathed – if trade negotiations between the EU and the US founder, the group has told Euronews. It’s position aligns it with the French sector’s stance.

“If the EU must respond, counter-tariffs should focus strictly on fully finished aerospace end products – such as complete aircraft and helicopters – and explicitly exclude spare parts or critical products,” BDLI said in an email to Euronews. “This is essential to avoid unintended harm to European and global production networks.”

US aircraft are included in the European Commission’s draft listof €95 billion worth of US products that could face duties if ongoing negotiations fail. The list was open for industry consultation until 10 June and now awaits approval by EU member states.

Trade tensions between the EU and the US risk reignitingthe long-standing rivalry between aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus. However, the two economies’ production systems are tightly intertwined. For instance, the LEAP engine, used in both Airbus and Boeing jets, is co-produced by US-based General Electric and France’s Safran.

Published on
19/06/2025 – 17:15 GMT+2

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US tech giants Apple and Meta will not face sanctions immediately for failure to meet obligations under the EU’s digital rulebook, an EU spokesperson told Euronews.

In April, the Commission fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and gave both companies 60 days to bring their practices in line with EU rules. That grace period ends on 26 June, after which they risk periodic penalty payments.

According to the spokesperson, financial penalties will not be applied automatically but only after the Commission conducts a preliminary analysis and shares its findings with the two tech giants as part of an ongoing exchange process.

Apple was fined €500 million for preventing developers from directing users to alternative offers or content outside its platform—an action deemed contrary to DMA rules.

Meta received a €200 million fine for its “pay or consent” model, which the Commission found problematic. The model forces users to either consent to the use of their personal data for targeted advertising or pay for an ad-free subscription—limiting user choice.

In response, Meta introduced a revised version of its personalised advertising model in November 2024, which uses less personal data. The Commission is still evaluating this system while continuing its discussions with the company.

Compared to past antitrust enforcement, the fines issued in April were relatively modest. Under former EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, tech giants were subject to more substantial penalties.

In April, EU officials explained that the lower fines reflected the short duration of the violations since the DMA implementation started in 2023 and the Commission’s current focus on achieving compliance rather than punishing breaches.

US digital services have been drawn into the trade war that has been escalating between the US and the EU since mid-March. In response to US tariffs, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to impose a tax on digital advertising revenues.

Meanwhile, a report by the US Trade Representative, published in early April, labelled EU digital regulations as a barrier to US exports.

The DMA is designed to prevent dominant digital platforms from abusing their market power. It aims to open up digital ecosystems controlled by Big Tech and ensure users enjoy real freedom of choice online.

Published on 18/06/2025 – 18:37 GMT+2•Updated
18:43

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The conflict in the Middle East will further worsen the global economic outlook, already strained by ongoing trade disputes, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (FMI) has told Euronews in an interview.

“Being hit by a trade war has consequences. We have projected a decline in global growth by half a percentage point,” Kristalina Georgieva said, adding: “What we witness now is more turbulence in the Middle East, which adds to uncertainty and therefore is bad for business.”

Since Donald Trump’s return to power as leader of the world’s largest economy, international trade has been disrupted by a wave of tariffs imposed by the US administration on its global partners.

Mexico and Canada were the initial targets, followed by a prolonged standoff between the US and China, which saw reciprocal tariffs between the pair soar to more than 100%.

On 2 April— a day he dubbed “Liberation Day”—Trump imposed tariffs on a wide range of countries, including the EU. He then declared a 90-day truce, set to expire on 9 July.

Negotiations are currently underway with the EU, which currently faces tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminum, 25% on cars, and 10% on all its exports to the US.

However, the director of the IMF, which is responsible for financial stability across the world and facilitate global trade, admitted that “the global economy has proven to be remarkably resilient to shocks, and that resilience continues.”

In her view, economic uncertainty is becoming the new normal.

“We live in a more shock-prone world, a world of higher uncertainty,” Georgieva said, adding: “For this world, countries need to work hard to be more resilient. Do reforms at home that would make your economies stronger.”

Georgieva, a former vice-president of the European Commission, also expressed optimism with the economic outlook despite the bleak growth figures.

She considered that the recent trade agreement between China and the US and the deal Trump has brokered with the UK to be good signs, saying: “We are in a better place.”

In an uncertain context, she also sees opportunities to be seized—an outlook shared by the European Commission, which is pursuing a strategy of diversifying its trading partners by expanding the number of trade agreements worldwide.

“In Europe, we see an increase in bilateral and plurilateral agreements, which I expect to be a big feature of the future of trade globally,” she told Euronews, adding that it is a great moment for Europe, “a defender of rules-based” global trade exchanges.

Published on
12/06/2025 – 8:00 GMT+2

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The EU is wrangling over a provision of Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” for the US budget that could see European companies taxed higher than others in retaliation for certain taxes imposed on US enterprises overseas, the vice-chair of the European Parliament’s tax subcommittee has told Euronews.

The German European People’s Party MEP Markus Ferber said the European Commission has raised the proposed legislation—already approved by the House of Representatives—in ongoing tariff negotiations with the Trump administration.

“We are concerned because within this ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ there are special taxes aimed at jurisdictions that impose taxes on the US,” Ferber told Euronews.

He added that jurisdictions like the EU, which have already implemented the OECD agreement establishing a global minimum tax of 15% on multinationals, are directly targeted.

“It could also affect member states that have introduced a digital services tax,” he noted.

The OECD agreement, approved by 140 countries – though as yet unratified by the US – introduced a global minimum tax of 15% on the profits of multinational companies, regardless of where those profits are declared, with effect from 1 January 2024. The EU has transposed the agreement into law and applies it to multinationals operating within the Union, to the ire of the Trump administration.

Meanwhile countries such as Denmark, Portugal and Poland have implemented digital services taxes targeting US tech giants, while others are in the process of creating one.

The US is now looking to retaliate against taxes it deems unfair through a provision of the “Big Beautiful Bill” which would hit foreign investors with a bump in US income tax by five percent points each year, potentially taking the rate up to 20%, in addition to existing taxes.

The Commission is concerned, officials said.

According to Ferber, the EU executive has put this provision of the US budget bill on the negotiating table. “But we are not sure yet that the US agreed to put it in the basket,” the MEP said.

For several weeks, the EU and the US have been discussing a resolution to the trade dispute that has been ongoing since mid-March.

The US impose 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all EU imports.

For its part, the EU has prepared countermeasures targeting around €115 billion worth of US products. These measures are either suspended until July or still awaiting approval by EU member states.

Published on 02/06/2025 – 19:11 GMT+2•Updated
19:13

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EU trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will meet his US counterpart Ambassador Jamieson Greer on Wednesday on the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris following a high-level gathering of EU and US experts in Washington on Tuesday against rising tensions over US customs duties.

The Commission is hoping to rekindle negotiation with the US a week after EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US president Donald Trump spoke on the phone, despite Trump’s subsequent decision on 30 May to slap 50% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.

“The EU in good faith paused its countermeasures on 14 April, to create space for continued negotiations, and following the call between president Ursula von der Leyen and president Donald Trump both sides agreed to accelerate the pace of talks,” Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said on Monday, acknowledging however that Trump’s last announcement on steel and aluminium undermined the Commission’s “ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution with the US”.

The Commission has suspended until 14 July a list of countermeasures targeting US products after Trump decided on a 90-Day pause in the trade dispute he launched against his partners across the globe. But the Commission could decide to move forward with those countermeasures, it said.

A second list of US product is also open to consultation from industry until 10 June, when EU member states will adopt them.

“If no mutually acceptable solution is reached, both the existing and the possible additional measures will automatically take effect on 14 July or earlier if circumstances require,“ Gill said.

Šefčovič has already travelled to Washington three times to meet with his US counterparts, but his efforts have so far failed to break the deadlock.

The US and the EU exchanged proposals to begin negotiations, but both sides have dismissed the other’s offers. It wasn’t until EU and US leaders spoke by phone that talks were able to move forward—until President Trump announced new tariffs on steel and aluminium at the end of last week, putting the negotiations at risk once again.

The US currently imposes 25% tariffs on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all EU imports. Several investigations in pharma, semiconductors or aircrafts could also lead to more US tariffs on EU goods.

Published on
02/06/2025 – 13:27 GMT+2

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Brussels and Washington have little chance of breaking the trade deadlock they have been in since mid-March and the imposition of the first US tariffs on steel and aluminium, Ignacio García Bercero, a former senior EU official and expert of the Bruegel think tank, told Euronews.

“It seems to me very clear that if the US is not ready to take action to substantially mitigate the impact of the tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars. I don’t really see how it is going to be possible to reach any kind of negotiated agreement,” García Bercero said.

“The increase of US tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25% to 50% hardens the position of the US, which is the only country capable of deciding how to end the crisis.”

US President Donald Trump announced last Friday an increase in US tariffs imposed in mid-March on steel and aluminium coming into the country — including EU imports — from 25% to 50%, as of June 4.

Those tariffs come on top of 25% US tariffs on cars and 10% US levies on all EU imports.

However on 28 May, the US Court of International Trade ruled that an emergency law invoked by Trump did not give him unilateral authority to impose the 10% tariffs and ordered an immediate block on them.

The day after, a US court of appeals paused the lower court’s ruling to consider the government’s appeal on 9 June.

But the tariffs of 25% on steel, aluminium and cars were not challenged by the judges as they were grounded on a different law regarding national security.

Several investigations are currently being conducted by the US on the same legal basis into the pharmaceutical, semiconductor and aircraft industries, which could lead to further US tariffs.

“It is very clear that the US has already indicated that it is not ready to do anything on the 10% tariffs, which in any case are being challenged by a US court,” García Bercero said.

“And it now appears that it is not very easy to do anything on the other tariffs which are based on national security – the tariffs targeting steel, aluminium and cars or cars parts,” the former EU official explained.

“Quite frankly, I don’t really see how it is possible to reach any kind of agreement.”

“Therefore the EU need to adopt rebalancing action at least on steel, aluminium, cars and car parts increase,” García Bercero added.

Deadlines coming in fast

The EU has currently suspended until 15 July a first list of US products worth €21 billion to retaliate against US tariffs on steel and aluminium, after Trump decided a 90-day pause in the trade conflict until 9 July.

A second package is under discussion in Brussels until 10 June to target €95 billion worth of US goods in retaliation for the 25% tariff on cars and 10% on EU imports, if negotiations with the US fail.

Further countermeasures on steel and aluminium would need to be adopted by EU member states.

After the negotiation between the EU and the US seemed to kick off 10 days ago, the US president already threatened to impose 50% tariffs on all EU imports.

But a call between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen eased the pressure with the promise from both sides to “fast-track” the trade talks. 

Brussels stated that it did not alter its offer in the negotiation, which includes zero-to-zero tariffs on all industrial goods and the purchase of certain strategic US products, such as energy, AI, or agricultural products.

“I’m not optimistic. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not the right tactic to continue to discuss and to see whether or not finally there is a willingness of the US to put something on the table,” García Bercero concluded.