Lobbying Archives - Dialogues on European Digital Transition

Big tech lobbying in Brussels: A lot of money. Too much influence?

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality March 4, 2021June 9, 2021Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Lobbying, Microsoft

It’s no surprise the Silicon Valley tech giants are paying close attention to regulatory activity in the European Union. As of March 2015, when then-Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker announced the Digital Single Market, Europe has been setting a distinct profile in its conception of digitalization, a profile that is increasingly uncomfortable for the so-called Big Five or GAFAM – Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft. Some of the issues the Commission is prioritising through the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act are potentially very dangerous for the business model of companies like Google and Facebook. And we’re talking about a market of more than 450 million people.

Digital Services Act: Google’s aggressive lobbying proves what’s at stake

European Association for Digital Transition Democratic quality October 30, 2020June 9, 2021Digital Services Act, European Commission, Google, Lobbying, Margrethe Vestager, Thierry Breton

The European Union has finalized a draft of its new Digital Services Act (DSA), which, according to all indications, will place restrictions on and control more closely the activity of large technology companies. There is even talk of forcing them to share their data with smaller companies and prohibiting them from applying any kind of preferential treatment for their products on their own platforms. All this is in the midst of a growing debate, also in the United States, about the excessive size and power of these companies and the possibility of forcing them to be split up to restore competition in the markets where they abuse their dominance.