Despite an EU–US tariff deal, regulatory tensions remain. The upcoming EU Space Act is likely to raise U.S. concerns over non-tariff barriers and EU Member States' concerns over a potential legal collision.
Revolut is rolling out local IBANs and expanding its presence across Western Europe. One of the factors behind this move is to bypass “IBAN discrimination”, where public and private institutions reject foreign account numbers, highlighting gaps in the EU’s Single Market for the financial sector.
The White House says the EU has committed to not introducing network fees, a significant step in transatlantic digital policy talks. While details about the EU's true commitment remain unclear, such fees risk undermining net neutrality and raising consumer costs, as seen in South Korea.
Germany and Austria have launched simple AI service desks to guide companies under the AI Act. The EU’s €2M version, expected by August 2025, will rely on human staff for general guidance (not thorough legal advice) and respond in 12 EU languages within 2 days.
The American AI Action Plan pushes for “global dominance”, and the EU should follow suit where possible, particularly with regulatory feedback loops and stronger military AI capacity at the Member State level.
EU Justice Ministers met in Copenhagen to discuss targeted GDPR simplification. While the Commission rules out a full review, momentum is growing to ease burdens, especially for SMEs and scale-ups, which are key to Europe's competitiveness.
The Danish EU Presidency is pushing GDPR reform to boost competitiveness, proposing SME-friendly changes like limiting data rights in low-risk cases, simplifying DPIAs, and requiring prior engagement before complaints. Broader reforms may still be needed for hyperscalers.
Russia and Belarus plan to build “traditional values” - based AI to counter U.S. and Chinese influence. While still reliant on Chinese tech, Russia ranks low in global AI indexes. Sanctions, brain drain, and chip dependency drive its $2.5B push for AI self-reliance.
The EU’s Data Union Strategy aims to boost AI-friendly data use, streamline rules, and expand global data flows. But GDPR remains off the table. Unfair B2B data sharing, lack of incentives for public institutions need more attention.
The current debate on European digital sovereignty largely targets American tech, while 5G infrastructure sovereignty and security are often sidelined as "non-priority" or "too expensive".
Eighty-one organizations representing European consumer interests have issued a joint statement opposing the revival of network fees - or "fair share" - in the context of the upcoming Digital Networks Act.
As the US-EU 90-day tariff pause nears its end, digital tensions remain unresolved. Despite growing pushback from startups and Member States, the European Commission stays firm on its digital agenda - from the DMA and DSA to the AI Act's rollout.
