🔗 Share this article Europe's Covert Instrument to Counter US Economic Pressure: Time to Activate It Will Brussels ever confront Donald Trump and US big tech? Present passivity goes beyond a regulatory or financial shortcoming: it represents a moral failure. This inaction undermines the very foundation of Europe's political sovereignty. The central issue is not merely the fate of companies like Google or Meta, but the fundamental idea that Europe has the right to govern its own digital space according to its own rules. Background Context First, consider the events leading here. During the summer, the EU executive accepted a humiliating agreement with the US that locked in a permanent 15% tariff on EU exports to the US. Europe gained no concessions in return. The indignity was all the greater because the EU also agreed to direct well over $1tn to the US through investments and purchases of energy and military materiel. This arrangement exposed the vulnerability of Europe's reliance on the US. Soon after, Trump warned of crushing new tariffs if Europe enforced its regulations against American companies on its own territory. The Gap Between Rhetoric and Action Over many years Brussels has claimed that its market of 450 million rich people gives it significant leverage in trade negotiations. But in the month and a half since Trump's threat, Europe has taken minimal action. No counter-action has been taken. No activation of the recently created anti-coercion instrument, the so-called “trade bazooka” that Brussels once vowed would be its ultimate shield against external coercion. Instead, we have diplomatic language and a fine on Google of under 1% of its annual revenue for longstanding anticompetitive behaviour, previously established in US courts, that allowed it to “exploit” its market leadership in Europe's advertising market. American Strategy The US, under the current administration, has made its intentions clear: it does not aim to support EU institutions. It seeks to undermine it. A recent essay released on the US State Department platform, composed in paranoid, inflammatory rhetoric reminiscent of Hungarian leadership, charged Europe of “systematic efforts against democratic values itself”. It criticized supposed limitations on political groups across the EU, from German political movements to Polish organizations. The Solution: Anti-Coercion Instrument How should Europe respond? The EU's anti-coercion instrument works by calculating the extent of the coercion and applying counter-actions. Provided EU member states agree, the European Commission could remove US products out of Europe's market, or apply tariffs on them. It can strip their intellectual property rights, block their investments and demand reparations as a requirement of re-entry to EU economic space. The tool is not merely financial response; it is a statement of determination. It was designed to demonstrate that the EU would always resist external pressure. But now, when it is needed most, it remains inactive. It is not a bazooka. It is a paperweight. Political Divisions In the months preceding the transatlantic agreement, several EU states used strong language in official statements, but failed to push for the instrument to be activated. Some nations, including Ireland and Italy, publicly pushed for a softer European line. Compromise is the worst option that the EU needs. It must implement its laws, even when they are inconvenient. Along with the trade tool, Europe should shut down social media “recommended”-style systems, that recommend material the user has not requested, on European soil until they are proven safe for democratic societies. Broader Digital Strategy The public – not the algorithms of international billionaires beholden to external agendas – should have the freedom to make independent choices about what they see and share online. The US administration is pressuring the EU to weaken its online regulations. But now especially important, the EU should hold large US tech firms accountable for distorting competition, snooping on Europeans, and preying on our children. Brussels must ensure Ireland accountable for failing to enforce EU online regulations on US firms. Regulatory action is insufficient, however. The EU must gradually substitute all non-EU “major technology” services and cloud services over the next decade with homegrown alternatives. Risks of Delay The significant risk of the current situation is that if the EU does not take immediate action, it will never act again. The longer it waits, the more profound the decline of its self-belief in itself. The more it will believe that resistance is futile. The greater the tendency that its regulations are unenforceable, its institutions not sovereign, its democracy dependent. When that happens, the path to undemocratic rule becomes inevitable, through automated influence on social media and the normalisation of misinformation. If the EU continues to remain passive, it will be drawn into that same abyss. Europe must take immediate steps, not only to push back against US pressure, but to establish conditions for itself to exist as a free and sovereign entity. Global Implications And in doing so, it must make a statement that the rest of the world can see. In North America, South Korea and Japan, democratic nations are watching. They are wondering if the EU, the last bastion of liberal multilateralism, will resist external influence or yield to it. They are asking whether representative governments can survive when the most powerful democracy in the world abandons them. They also see the example of Lula in Brazil, who confronted Trump and demonstrated that the approach to deal with a aggressor is to hit hard. But if Europe delays, if it continues to issue polite statements, to levy token fines, to hope for a improved situation, it will have already lost.