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Margrethe Vestager stays on as EU competition head in blow for tech giants
- camillomiller 7y agoThis is good news. EU is the last stronghold against big tech becoming more powerful than Nations on the global scenario. America has had its own Chaebols for a while now, it’s just they’re not managed by families.
- mc32 7y agoBut will it affect the behavior of state owned or state influenced enterprises in the PRC? I guess time will tell.
- wbl 7y agoGeneral Electric comes closest to a US Chaebol, and they are mostly industrial with some finance attached and exited a lot of markets. Maybe Beekshire Hathway which makes everything from mobile homes to car lubricant.
- basdp534 7y agoEU will learn the hard way that this kind of protectionism is creating far bigger problems than it tries to solve. Soon all the big tech companies (read lots of jobs) will leave for greener pastures e.g. UK, South Africa, SE-Asia, AU.
- piva00 7y agoNo sane company will leave the second largest market and GDP area of the world, it would take a really lot to make them go to "greener pastures". "Think of the jobs" is the ultimate callout of corporate defenders, while the EU is a huge profitable market for these companies they will stick around... Just compare to what happens in China, if that country still attracts tech companies then I don't think the EU will be shedding them anytime soon.
- Silhouette 7y agoNo sane company will leave the second largest market and GDP area of the world, it would take a really lot to make them go to "greener pastures". That isn't necessarily true at all. The EU may be a large market, but that doesn't necessarily mean it represents a proportionately large contribution to the revenues of any given business that trades with EU customers. For example, in the world of small tech businesses I operate in, I know of several examples who do offer their services to EU customers like anyone else. However, with hindsight, those businesses would have chosen to give up the relatively small proportion of their business that comes from elsewhere in the EU some time ago, if that also saved them the time and money they spent complying with ever-increasing levels of EU red tape. I even know some people who feel so strongly about this that they voted for Brexit because of it.
- blub 7y agoIt seems to me that tech businesses really have an inflated sense of self-importance and a deep aversion to anything which might impede them from abusing people's (private) information.
- Silhouette 7y agoIt's unfortunate when people resort to stereotypes. It means the vast majority of businesses that aren't doing something shady get penalised for the actions of the relatively few that are.
- piva00 7y agoI thought it was clearly implied in my comment that "no sane company [which has expressive market share coming from the EU] will leave the second largest...". I'm sorry to pick out on this but it's really tiring to go into any discussion having to state all of the intentions and disclaimers before making an argument just to avoid someone nitpicking on semantics and derailing from the main point.
- Silhouette 7y ago
- bestouff 7y agoThat's a few thousands employees at best, and not the kind of people that have difficulties finding a job. I don't think anyone is scared.
- avocado4 7y agoEmployees will move to the UK/US/AU out of EU if Google moves out. There's no need to be second sort at a local low-paying EU firm if you can work at a company in a country that actually values your talent.
- Daishiman 7y agoThis is an astonishingly ignorant take. You think the world of excellence in tech starts and finishes with Google? You think there aren't tons of firms in the EU that do real, quality engineering? Laughable.
- rad_gruchalski 7y agoIf people in these regions want to be exploited, sure, good luck.
- fauigerzigerk 7y agoIf this is protectionism, it is spectacularly unsuccessful protectionism. Google, for instance, has a higher market share in Europe than even in the US. Compare that to China where both Google and Facebook have a market share close to zero.
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoIt's far more likely the jobs will leave the UK for the EU than vice versa. Presuming Brexit eventually happens, that is.
- cuban-frisbee 7y agoHow exactly is not letting foreign companies break the law protectionism when you also don't let domestic companies break the law?
- weinzierl 7y agoI don't agree with you, but you raised a valid point which doesn't deserve to be down voted.
- avocado4 7y agoShe's literally EU's Donald Trump except she follows through with protectionist threats. You can only bite the hand that's feeding you for so long.
- skummetmaelk 7y agoSometimes I wonder if people are paid to post comments as stupid as this.
- repsilat 7y ago> big tech becoming more powerful than Nations on the global scenario Can you explain further? I guess the "on a global scenario" hedge is to note that in any local context they're less powerful than even the smallest of local governments -- they can't fine or tax anyone, after all. They can't pass laws like all nations can, they can't use force like all nations can, etc. But maybe you mean something else by "power"? Like they have more popular websites or something?
- rrtthu 7y agoVestager as EU competition, Goulard as defense, Timmermans on climate. These are the ingredients for a strong EU, and it's good news for the world.
- weinzierl 7y agoBut they are balanced out by von der Leyen who doesn't have the best record from her previous duties...
- IfOnlyYouKnew 7y agoMeh, she got a pretty thankless job, at an especially thankless moment, and it's hard to judge without having a comparison. And the decision we're applauding here was her's. So she does seem to be off to a good start.
- Toboe 7y ago> Meh, she got a pretty thankless job, at an especially thankless moment, and it's hard to judge without having a comparison. Her time as minister of defense isn't everything she is being criticized for. she earned the "Zensursula" moniker as minister of family. >And the decision we're applauding here was her's. So she does seem to be off to a good start. Yeah, lets give her the chance to be a good surprise by keeping up stuff like this decision.
- tannhaeuser 7y agoGood. She has upheld her stance on antitrust matters and demonstrated above-average literacy with digital economy issues (for a politician). We should prepare an agenda for her to look at during the forthcoming EU commission legislature.
- macmac 7y agoAlthough she failed miserably in her recommendation of the recent copyright directive (CDSM). The final Article 17 is a catastrophe. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&from=EN#d1e822-92-1https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&from=EN https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL...
- mscasts 7y agoAs an European I am happy over this. It feels like companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook etc only really care about what the US Government has to say and it's good that the EU show these companies clearly that they have to play nice if they are going to exist in the European market.
- firebacon 7y agoAgreed; this is excellent news! A highly competent and principled government should be a considered a good thing regardless of where you stand on the whole "big tech" debate.
- v77 7y agoAs a non-EU'er, the anti-trust stuff is sure hard to separate from the promoting EU companies stuff and EU politicians certainly treat it that way. Let's see Vestager take action against Airbus after the WTO finds against them this fall and I'll be more convinced. Maybe they'll even take on VW Group.
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoScania (VW Group) was fined €880 million 2 years ago. https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-3502_en.htm https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-3502_en.htm
- mtgx 7y agoI would've preferred her as EC President, but I guess this will do for now.
- lacker 7y agoI wish the EU was more focused on helping European tech companies become successful, rather than preventing American tech companies from doing things.
- JonAtkinson 7y agoIt is the EU's job to do both, but neither is done to the exclusion of the other. We are lucky to have such a privacy-focused federal body which can bring about change effectively. I'm thrilled at the passing of GDPR, for example.
- blibble 7y agothe result of the GDPR was to increase Google's European ad market share[1] and the massively increased compliance costs will ensure that no domestic small competitor will ever be able to challenge their position that's some effective change [1]: https://www.politico.eu/article/gdpr-facebook-google-privacy-data-6-months-in-europes-privacy-revolution-favors-google-facebook/ https://www.politico.eu/article/gdpr-facebook-google-privacy...
- TeMPOraL 7y agoThat's not necessarily a bad thing. Innovation and healthy competition in adtech space is a problem; the industry needs to die, not grow.
- bb822 7y ago... What?
- cuban-frisbee 7y agoMass surveillance for the the purpose of more targeted ads are bad for society.
- 7y ago
- zubspace 7y agoCompared to the US tech sector, the European one is a completely different beast. For me it seems more like a slow moving, risk-averse and regulated behemoth, while the US tech industry likes to present itself as agile, risk-seeking and (kind-of) unregulated. All major companies from the US already gained a huge competitive advantage by being first-movers and the resulting network effects, which are hard to overcome. The incentive for an average European citizen to switch from something like Google to Qwant is basically zero. I understand the reasons for the EU to force taxes and regulations on tech giants, but this alone will not help the EU to invent itself anew. We're stuck behind and will be for a long time. You cannot change the culture through taxes.
- ocdtrekkie 7y agoI don't think regulating antitrust and competition properly is going to suddenly inspire European-based tech companies, I think much like trying to move manufacturing out of Asia, there's a lot of reasons people found tech companies in the US, a lot of momentum to overcome. But lack of competition even among US companies causes a lot of problems and harm for EU consumers, so I understand why this would still be a very big issue for them to ensure big tech is broken up... even if it just leads to new US-based competitors.
- craigsmansion 7y agoThere's "tech" meaning mostly "data-mining/advertising" and "tech" as short for "technology". As long as the EU remains strong in actual technology, the EU doesn't need to reinvent itself on the spot. As far as being "stuck behind for a long time" is concerned, if it remains behind in corporate surveillance and privacy trampling, that's alright by me.
- PeterStuer 7y agoUncomfortable thruths: US tech rules because risk capital is extremely cheap due to the petrodollar backed up by the planet's largest military force.
- kazen44 7y agothis is very true. Also, the US has a corporate structure which is brutal in terms of competition. (and it has a less equal society as a result).
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]