{"id":10969,"date":"2025-04-11T14:32:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T14:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/10969\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T14:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T14:32:15","slug":"eu-refuses-to-soften-tech-rules-for-trade-deal-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/10969\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Refuses to Soften Tech Rules for Trade Deal with Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"European <\/p>\n

European Union | Image:
\n Unsplash<\/p>\n

The European Union will not water down its digital regulations to secure a trade deal with President Donald Trump, a senior European Commission official has said, pushing back against U.S. pressure to ease rules on big tech companies.<\/p>\n

Henna Virkkunen, the Commission\u2019s Vice-President in charge of digital policy and tech sovereignty, made clear that the EU is committed to its strict digital rulebook\u2014even if that complicates negotiations with Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very committed to our rules when it comes to the digital world,\u201d Virkkunen said. \u201cWe want to make sure that our digital environment in the European Union \u2026 that it is fair and it\u2019s safe and it\u2019s also democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Complaints over \u2018Lawfare\u2019 <\/p>\n

Virkkunen\u2019s comments come after Trump\u2019s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, accused the EU of using \u201clawfare\u201d against American tech giants. Writing in the Financial Times, Navarro listed what he called \u201cnon-tariff weapons\u201d that unfairly target U.S. firms like Apple, Facebook, and Google.<\/p>\n

Meta<\/a> CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also taken aim at the EU\u2019s digital policies, claiming the bloc is \u201cinstitutionalising censorship.\u201d Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly criticized the EU for imposing heavy fines and launching antitrust investigations against leading U.S. tech companies.<\/p>\n

\u2018Rules Apply to All\u2019 <\/p>\n

Virkkunen defended the EU\u2019s approach, stating that the digital regulations are not aimed at any specific country or company. \u201cWe are not specially targeting certain companies, but we have this risk-based approach in all our rules,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She explained that larger firms often face stricter obligations under EU law due to their wider influence and potential to cause harm in the digital market. \u201cWhen you are a bigger player, then there are more obligations, because you are posing a bigger risk,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Trade Tensions Persist <\/p>\n

Her comments came just after Trump announced a 90-day suspension of some tariffs, but before the EU formally responded with a matching freeze. The two sides remain locked in a tense trade dispute, with the EU still facing 10% tariffs overall\u2014and 25% duties on key exports like cars and metals.<\/p>\n

Despite these economic pressures, Brussels is unwilling to bend on its digital standards, which it sees as crucial to preserving fairness, competition, and certain values online.<\/p>\n

The Bigger Picture <\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s firm stance underscores the broader transatlantic friction over the future of digital governance. While the Trump administration sees EU regulations as a threat to U.S. tech dominance, Europe sees them as essential guardrails in a fast-moving digital world.<\/p>\n

With both sides watching each other closely ahead of further negotiations, it\u2019s clear that trade talks will remain bumpy\u2014especially where technology is concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"European Union | Image: Unsplash The European Union will not water down its digital regulations to secure a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[32,2000,299,5187,1699,867,598,1757,978],"class_list":{"0":"post-10969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-european-union","13":"tag-google","14":"tag-meta","15":"tag-trump","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114319821604011153","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}