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Will European leadership finally resist the US administration and US big tech? Present inaction is not just a legal or economic shortcoming: it represents a moral failure. This inaction throws into question the core principles of the EU's democratic identity. The central issue is not merely the future of firms such as Google or Meta, but the fundamental idea that the European Union has the authority to govern its own online environment according to its own laws.

The Path to This Point

To begin, consider the events leading here. In late July, the EU executive agreed to a humiliating deal with Trump that locked in a ongoing 15% tariff on European goods to the US. Europe received nothing in return. The embarrassment was compounded because the commission also consented 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, the US administration warned of crushing new tariffs if Europe implemented its regulations against American companies on its own territory.

Europe's Claim vs. Reality

Over many years Brussels has claimed that its market of 450 million rich people gives it unanswerable leverage in international commerce. But in the month and a half since the US warning, the EU has taken minimal action. Not a single retaliatory measure has been taken. No activation of the new anti-coercion instrument, the often described “trade bazooka” that the EU once promised would be its ultimate shield against external coercion.

By contrast, we have polite statements and a fine on Google of under 1% of its annual revenue for established market abuses, already proven in American legal proceedings, that allowed it to “abuse” its dominant position in Europe's digital ad space.

American Strategy

The US, under Trump's leadership, has made its intentions clear: it no longer seeks to support EU institutions. It aims to weaken it. A recent essay released on the US Department of State's website, composed in alarmist, bombastic rhetoric reminiscent of Hungarian leadership, accused the EU of “an aggressive campaign against Western civilization itself”. It condemned alleged restrictions on authoritarian parties across the EU, from the AfD in Germany to PiS in Poland.

The Solution: Anti-Coercion Instrument

What is to be done? The EU's trade defense mechanism functions through calculating the degree of the coercion and applying counter-actions. Provided most European governments consent, the European Commission could kick US products out of the EU market, or impose tariffs on them. It can remove their intellectual property rights, prevent their financial activities and require reparations as a condition of re-entry to Europe's market.

The tool is not merely economic retaliation; it is a statement of determination. It was designed to signal that Europe would never tolerate external pressure. But now, when it is most crucial, it lies unused. It is not a bazooka. It is a paperweight.

Political Divisions

In the months preceding the transatlantic agreement, several EU states talked tough in official statements, but failed to push for the instrument to be used. Some nations, such as Ireland and Italy, openly advocated a softer European line.

A softer line is the worst option that Europe needs. It must implement its regulations, even when they are inconvenient. Along with the trade tool, the EU should shut down social media “for you”-style algorithms, that suggest material the user has not requested, on EU territory until they are proven safe for democracy.

Comprehensive Approach

Citizens – not the automated systems of international billionaires serving foreign interests – should have the autonomy to decide for themselves about what they view and share online.

The US administration is putting Europe under pressure to weaken its online regulations. But now more than ever, Europe should hold American technology companies responsible for anti-competitive market rigging, snooping on Europeans, and preying on our children. Brussels must hold Ireland accountable for not implementing Europe's digital rules on American companies.

Regulatory action is not enough, however. Europe must progressively replace all foreign “big tech” services and cloud services over the next decade with European solutions.

Risks of Delay

The significant risk of this moment is that if the EU does not act now, it will become permanently passive. The more delay occurs, the more profound the erosion of its self-belief in itself. The increasing acceptance that opposition is pointless. The greater the tendency that its regulations are unenforceable, its institutions not sovereign, its democracy dependent.

When that occurs, the path to authoritarianism becomes inevitable, through automated influence on social media and the acceptance of lies. If the EU continues to remain passive, it will be drawn into that same decline. Europe must take immediate steps, not just to push back against US pressure, but to create space for itself to function as a independent and autonomous power.

Global Implications

And in doing so, it must plant a flag that the international community can see. In Canada, South Korea and East Asia, democratic nations are watching. They are wondering if the EU, the remaining stronghold of international cooperation, will resist external influence or surrender to it.

They are asking whether representative governments can endure when the leading democratic nation in the world abandons them. They also see the example of Lula in Brazil, who confronted US pressure and demonstrated that the way to address a aggressor is to respond firmly.

But if the EU delays, if it continues to issue diplomatic communications, to levy symbolic penalties, to anticipate a better future, it will have already lost.