The European Commission affirmed on Tuesday that it is proceeding with its investigations into U.S. Big Tech companies, including Apple, Alphabet, X, and Meta, and stressed that President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House would not alter its commitment to enforcing European laws. The EU has been at the forefront of examining whether these companies have violated laws designed to prevent them from gaining an unfair advantage over competitors.
Trump, who will begin his second term on Monday, has been critical of several European policies, while his ally Elon Musk has clashed with EU regulators on multiple occasions. Reports surfaced on Tuesday suggesting that Brussels might reassess its ongoing investigations of Big Tech, potentially scaling back or altering the scope of the probes at the request of U.S. companies seeking Trump’s intervention.
However, Henna Virkkunen, the EU commissioner responsible for policy, reassured Reuters that investigations are proceeding as usual and no decisions have been made to suspend them. A spokesperson for the European Commission emphasized that the assessments were routine and unrelated to Trump’s upcoming presidency. The focus of these assessments is on evaluating the progress of cases, the allocation of resources, and the overall readiness of investigations.
U.S. tech companies have long complained that European regulations stifle innovation and impose hefty fines. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently urged Trump to intervene and prevent further fines from the EU. He likened the EU’s competition enforcement to a “tariff” on U.S. firms. The Digital Markets Act (DMA), Digital Services Act (DSA), and the EU AI Act have drawn particular criticism from tech industry leaders, including Musk, who was scrutinized earlier this month after hosting controversial figures on his X platform.
The EU’s investigations, which can take several years, have already resulted in significant penalties. Last November, Meta was fined nearly 800 million euros ($821 million) for anti-competitive practices. Ongoing investigations into X, Apple, and Alphabet have yet to reach a conclusion.
In the face of criticism, Thierry Breton, the former EU industry chief, urged that the Commission resist efforts to weaken its regulations, asserting that regulation is not censorship.