Europe

If the European Commission truly wants innovation-led growth, it should abandon the idea that protection equals prosperity.

The European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass rightly identifies Europe’s economic and innovation challenges but proposes misguided solutions.

Vice President Vance was right to warn against stifling AI innovation with excessive regulation, but the Trump administration must go further by pushing back against policies like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and similar U.S. regulatory efforts that undermine American tech leadership. To maintain global competitiveness, the U.S. should support its leading tech companies, ensuring they have the scale and capital needed to drive AI and technological advancements, rather than subjecting them to restrictive regulations that benefit foreign competitors.

Instead of treating Apple as a public utility, the Commission should work to ensure that interoperability requirements align with the broader theoretical framework that orients European competition policy, such as condemning unilateral conduct that may harm rivals only when it does not constitute competition on the merits.

The EU over the last 7 years has cravenly ducked the industrial fight against China, attempting to expand its exports while America shoulders the costs. That cannot be allowed to continue as the new Trump administration ratchets up pressure against our common adversary.

The incoming administration is unlikely to take kindly to Europe's continuing antitrust attacks against Apple and other U.S. technology companies using a highly aggressive approach to DMA enforcement.

While it remains uncertain what Ribera’s tenure will bring, early signs indicate she could drag sustainability into competition policy and pursue an unacceptable double standard of pushing European firms to grow while singling out American ones for aggressive enforcement.

Unfortunately, new proposed guidelines for enforcing against abusive exclusionary conduct untether liability from likely harms to competition and consumer welfare.

Watch now for a lively and insightful webinar featuring leading experts from Europe.

Europe needs to pump the brakes on new regulations before it can properly assess the long-term effects of the GDPR, DSA, DMA, and AI Act.