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Can European leadership finally resist Donald Trump and American tech giants? Present passivity is not just a legal or economic shortcoming: it represents a moral collapse. This situation undermines the bedrock of the EU's political sovereignty. What is at stake is not merely the fate of firms such as Google or Meta, but the fundamental idea that the European Union has the authority to govern its own digital space according to its own regulations.

How We Got Here

First, consider the events leading here. During the summer, the European Commission agreed to a humiliating deal with the US that locked in a permanent 15% tax on European goods to the US. Europe gained no concessions in return. The embarrassment was all the greater because the EU also consented to direct more than $1tn to the US through investments and acquisitions of energy and defense equipment. The deal revealed the vulnerability of Europe's reliance on the US.

Soon after, Trump threatened severe additional taxes if the EU implemented its laws against US tech firms on its own soil.

The Gap Between Rhetoric and Action

For decades Brussels has asserted that its economic zone of 450 million affluent people gives it significant sway in trade negotiations. But in the month and a half since the US warning, Europe has done little. Not a single retaliatory measure has been taken. No activation of the new trade defense tool, the often described “trade bazooka” that Brussels once promised would be its ultimate shield against external coercion.

By contrast, we have polite statements and a fine on Google of under 1% of its annual revenue for established anticompetitive behaviour, previously established in American legal proceedings, that allowed it to “abuse” its dominant position in the EU's digital ad space.

American Strategy

The US, under Trump's leadership, has made its intentions clear: it does not aim to support EU institutions. It aims to undermine it. An official publication published on the US Department of State's platform, composed in paranoid, bombastic rhetoric similar to Hungarian leadership, charged Europe of “systematic efforts against democratic values itself”. It criticized supposed limitations on authoritarian parties across the EU, from German political movements to Polish organizations.

The Solution: Anti-Coercion Instrument

What is to be done? Europe's trade defense mechanism functions through calculating the degree of the pressure and imposing counter-actions. Provided EU member states agree, the EU executive could remove US goods and services out of the EU market, or apply tariffs on them. It can remove their patents and copyrights, prevent their financial activities and require compensation as a requirement of readmittance to Europe's market.

The tool is not merely economic retaliation; it is a declaration of political will. It was designed to demonstrate that Europe would always resist external pressure. But now, when it is most crucial, it remains inactive. It is not the powerful weapon promised. It is a paperweight.

Internal Disagreements

In the period leading to the EU-US trade deal, many European governments used strong language in public, but did not advocate the instrument to be activated. Some nations, such as Ireland and Italy, publicly pushed for more conciliatory approach.

A softer line is the worst option that the EU needs. It must enforce its laws, even when they are challenging. Along with the anti-coercion instrument, Europe should disable social media “for you”-style systems, that recommend material the user has not requested, on EU territory until they are demonstrated to be secure for democracy.

Comprehensive Approach

Citizens – not the automated systems of international billionaires beholden to foreign interests – should have the freedom to make independent choices about what they see and distribute online.

Trump is pressuring the EU to water down its digital rulebook. But now especially important, Europe should make American technology companies accountable for distorting competition, surveillance practices, and preying on our children. EU authorities must ensure Ireland responsible for not implementing Europe's online regulations on US firms.

Enforcement is not enough, however. Europe must progressively replace all non-EU “major technology” platforms and computing infrastructure over the coming years with homegrown alternatives.

The Danger of Inaction

The real danger of this moment is that if the EU does not act now, it will become permanently passive. The longer it waits, the deeper the erosion of its confidence in itself. The increasing acceptance that opposition is pointless. The more it will accept that its regulations are not binding, its institutions not sovereign, its political system dependent.

When that occurs, the path to authoritarianism becomes unavoidable, through algorithmic manipulation on social media and the acceptance of lies. If the EU continues to cower, it will be pulled toward that same decline. The EU must act now, not just to push back against US pressure, but to create space for itself to exist as a free and sovereign entity.

Global Implications

And in taking action, it must make a statement that the international community can see. In Canada, South Korea and Japan, democratic nations are watching. They are wondering if the EU, the remaining stronghold of liberal multilateralism, will resist external influence or yield to it.

They are inquiring whether representative governments can survive when the most powerful democracy in the world turns its back on them. They also see the example of Brazilian leadership, who faced down Trump and showed that the approach to deal with a aggressor is to hit hard.

But if Europe hesitates, if it continues to release diplomatic communications, to levy token fines, to hope for a improved situation, it will have already lost.