The Vice President of Competition and Transition of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, has denied that there is a “freeze” of the procedures opened against ‘Big Tech’ within the framework of European digital regulations and has assured that they are still underway despite the pressure that comes from the owners of these large companies, such as Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk, taking advantage of the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House. Given the criticism that the founder of Facebook has recently expressed, the number two of the community government has assured that “the application of the law is not discriminatory to anyone.”
The debate is on the digital regulations – the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act (DSA and DMA, respectively) – which came into force in 2023 and under which several investigations have been opened to companies such as Google, Apple, Meta, X or Tik Tok, among others, for non-compliance with the new rules. The range of infractions is varied: from violation of antitrust measures to failure in the fight against disinformation, among others.
Ribera has specifically referred to the DMA procedures, which are those he has under his umbrella as head of Competition at the European Commission. “There is no freeze, there are no re-evaluations, and all the decisions that needed to be made at the end of December were made. And the next round of decisions, which are expected in March, are being carried out according to due process, with all the guarantees and defense rights of all those involved. These are live cases and I am not going to comment on them, but they are ongoing,” he responded to journalists. This week Financial Times has published that Brussels is reviewing the procedures against X, Meta or Google with the intention of reducing their scope in the face of the pressure they are exerting taking advantage of the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House.
“The execution of any decision and the application of the law is not discriminatory against anyone,” Ribera said: “It is not that we are going against the Chinese for that, or the Americans for that, or the Europeans for that. “We have to put into practice what we said, which was going to be the basis of a market that worked well.” “Digital reality goes beyond traditional borders in physical terms, but creates positions in the markets that may be causing situations of abuse of power by certain actors. And we have to pay attention to that,” added Ribera, who has expressed confidence that the relationship with the US authorities will continue to be positive with Trump’s return.
Previously, in a colloquium organized by the Bruegel think tank, Ribera spoke about one of the challenges facing the EU: improving its competitiveness with respect to other powers, such as the US or China. “We have to update the way we relate to these actors, including the financial markets,” she said: “We cannot be naive, we must ensure that it happens under equal conditions,” added the socialist, who also referred to to a “world order based on rules” and human rights as elements of that competitiveness.
In the coming weeks, the European Commission is expected to present the Clean Industrial Pact, which will be the great initiative to increase this competitiveness and implement many of the recipes given to Ursula von der Leyen by the former director of the ECB Mario Draghi. Ribera has assured that the solution does not come only from the enormous investment, both public and private, although he has admitted that it is key, but he has also defended the need for investor and market confidence, for which he has raised the need to simplify processes and avoid fragmentation of the single market.
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