Teresa Ribera has traveled to the US but has not met with Donald Trump. Instead he has done it with the governor of California, one of the biggest critics of the current federal Administration. Newsom already held a meeting a few weeks ago with the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, who gave him a copy of Don Quixote. Now, Ribera has managed to strengthen ties with Newsom.
That is why they have asked the European commissioner proposed by Spain in Politico. They have asked the former Minister for the Ecological Transition if she fears that her meeting with Newsom is the same Donald Trump who is angry. He has also been reminded that the US president has spoken publicly and repeatedly about the “red lines” that Europe should not tread when regulating big technology companies.
In this regard, Teresa Ribera has been especially blunt. “In democracy, we meet, listen and dialogue with people close to our ideas and currents, and we also do so with people who may be much further away from our position,” he emphasized. About angering Trump she was even more direct: “Would you let someone tell you when to cook?“When to watch TV or when to put the washing machine at home?”
“We are sovereign and I believe that It’s a matter of respect“, concluded the executive vice president for a Clean, Fair and Competitive Transition of the Commission. It is not the first time that the Spanish quota in Von der Leyen’s College of Commissioners stands up to Trump: Ribera, in the past, has already referred critically to Washington’s attempts to dilute European technological regulation as “blackmail.”
The role of the EU regulating US technology companies
The community of competition specialists in the European Union have been demanding more action from Commissioner Ribera for months, who during the first half of the community mandate has been more focused on the area of ecological transition than on the area of pursuing business attitudes in the common economic market.
It is true that under the tutelage of Ribera the first fines have been seen invoking the Digital Services Regulation. In particular, 120 million euros to X, the social network formerly known as Twitter that Elon Musk bought for 44,000 million in 2022.
The sanction originated after Brussels understood that the profile verification badges given to paying users confuse Internet users by presenting themselves as “official” or “verified” accounts when in reality they are simply that, paying users. As a result of that fine on Twitter, the Trump Administration charged against the European Union, accusing it of attacking American companies.
There are rumors in the Belgian capital that raise the possibility that the EU is not doing more in the area of digital platforms precisely to avoid angering Trump. Others talk about At the same time, the Twenty-Seven are considering measures such as prohibiting social networks for those under 16 years of age, as is the case of the Spanish Government.
Ribera’s express tour of California has allowed the commissioner to hold meetings with the first swords of the large platforms, many in the eye of the regulatory storm.
While the Commission debates whether or not to step on the accelerator, the blow has arrived on the other side of the Atlantic: two rulings have concluded that firms like Meta and Google have addictive patterns, harm minors and They will have to pay heavy fines millionaires. The changes seem to begin in the US, despite Trump.
