EU digital rules against the backdrop of US trade negotiations

Against the backdrop of EU-US negotiations on tariffs, the delicate game of digital is being played. Three pillars of the legislation that the EU has equipped itself with in the last legislature and that has come under fire from Donald Trump's administration: the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the AI ​​Act, the first law in the world on artificial intelligence. The DMA aims to combat unfair practices and the abuse of dominant positions on digital markets by Big Tech.

To date, the Commission has imposed two fines of €500 million and €200 million on Apple and Meta, which have recently submitted amendments to remedy the violations and thus avoid further sanctions. More politically sensitive is the DSA, which covers a wide range of digital services that act as intermediaries between users and content, goods or services. Among other things, the DSA addresses algorithms, harmful and illegal content, and the integrity of electoral processes.

Among the most important investigations that the Berlaymont Palace is conducting is the one on Elon Musk's X, opened in December 2023, which according to internal sources in the Commission should not be closed before 2026. The AI ​​Act, which has not yet fully entered into force, is the object of strong pressure not only from Washington, but also from European capitals and industry.

The push is to postpone and simplify the legislative text, which provides for a phased implementation, as part of the next 'Omnibus' simplification package on digital, expected by the end of the year. Some of the rules will be detailed by codes, including the one on AI models for general purposes, such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's GPT-4. Expected for May, the presentation of the code has been postponed to July amid protests from the law's own negotiators who denounce a text that is too unbalanced in favor of Big Tech. The latest hypothesis is that the implementation of the code will be postponed.