The world’s digital empires are jostling for power – in Europe, we can’t afford to be useful idiots | Thierry Breton

Tue, 18 Nov 2025

The EU is under US pressure to unravel its hard-won online safety laws. We must not give in

Protecting our digital sovereignty is crucial. The challenge is why European decision makers are meeting in Berlin on Tuesday at the behest of the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron. As individuals, we spend four to five hours a day accessing the internet via our smartphones and other devices, from social networks to online shopping to AI assistants. It is essential, therefore, that we have control over how the digital space is organised, structured and regulated.

Europe has already set to work. Between 2022 and 2024, EU digital laws were adopted by an overwhelming majority of MEPs and unanimously by all member states. The Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the Data Act and the AI Act form the common foundation protecting our children, citizens, businesses and democracies from all kinds of abuses in the information space. These four major laws mirror our core values and the principles of the rule of law. They make up the most advanced digital legal framework in the world. Europe can be proud of it.

Thierry Breton was the European commissioner for the internal market and digital affairs until September 2024 and is a former minister for the economy and finance in France