Already worried about US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose sweeping tariffs on car imports, the European Union (EU) seems to have decided to step back in its face-off against Meta and Apple.
Just last week, the European Commission essentially threw down a gauntlet to Trump and ruled that Apple and Google were in breach of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and must face the consequences if they take no action.
The consequences in this particular case could be fines reaching up to 10% of the tech firms’ global revenues – which is billions of dollars. We’re just following the law, the Commission seemed to say.
Well, it seems the EU and its regulation can also be flexible when needed. According to a Financial Times (FT) report, the bloc – which has come under sustained pressure from Trump to not “extort” US companies – will only impose “minimal” fines on Apple and Meta under the DMA.
Brussels seeks to avoid escalating tensions with the Trump administration, of course. But the EU also wants to save face, the report says.
That’s why Apple will still be fined and ordered to revise its App Store rules, and Meta will pay up and be ordered to change its “pay or consent” model, under which users can only avoid data tracking by paying a subscription fee for an ad-free experience.
Once again, penalties could in theory reach up to 10% of the tech giants’ global turnover. But sources told FT that the EU is now aiming for far more modest fines.
Even though the officials downplay the decision and say that caution is needed because the DMA is still relatively new and untested, it would seem that the EU has caved in to pressure from Washington.
And the pressure has been relentless. There were comments from Trump and Vice President JD Vance – but US big tech executives and their lobbyists have also expressed their dissatisfaction with European regulation.
In a recent analysis, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think tank funded by American tech giants, wrote that the DMA is “ultimately intended to target and rein in US tech titans.”
In what can probably be called an attempt to save face, EU officials also told FT that the new European Commission, which only took office in December, wants to focus more on the compliance of big tech firms with the law than on potential high fines in their billions.
There’s always the risk, though, that the Trump administration won’t be happy with any sort of fines being levied on US tech companies. The US President has called such penalties “a form of taxation.”
The EU’s decision can still change before it’s made public but is set to be announced next week, FT said.
Over the past fifteen years, the EU has imposed billions in competition-related fines on American companies. Apple was fined €1.8 billion ($1.94 billion) over App Store rules for music streaming providers, and the Court of Justice of the European Union ordered the company to pay €13 billion ($14 billion) for tax benefits it received from Ireland.
Google has been fined over €8 billion ($8.6 billion) on antitrust grounds, while Meta has been told to pay nearly €800 million ($863 million).
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