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They are trying with the Digital Privacy shield, but the issue is there is no domestic alternative to act as an alternative to the US. And a grand bargain with

• tsimionescu 1y ago
  > The EU has an added issue that the COE requires unanimity amongst heads of state to pass EU wide legislation This is vaguely similar to the truth, at best. The Council of Europe (CoE) has nothing to do with the EU, you're probably confusing it with the European Council (EUCO). But the EC is not normally involved in the legislative process. Instead, EU legislation is proposed by the European Comission (EC) and must be accepted by both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is the closest body to what you probably meant, but it's made up of heads of government of member states, not the heads of state. It also doesn't require unanimity to pass a law - it takes at least 4 countries to outright block legislation. There is a procedure in which a single country which is unhappy with a law passing can raise this to the EUCO for additional review, but it doesn't apply to ordinary legislation. So, no, Ireland can't unilaterally block any such legislation, it has to convince other countries to join in.
  • alephnerd 1y ago
    > The Council of Europe (CoE) has nothing to do with the EU, you're probably confusing it with the European Council (EUCO) Yes! Thanks for the correction! I did mean the Council of Ministers > So, no, Ireland can't unilaterally block any such legislation, it has to convince other countries to join in Yep, but my point still stands. Poland, Romania, Czechia, and Bulgaria have overwhelmingly profited from FDI from American BigTech players - they were the largest winners in the GCC and outsourcing rush of the early-to-mid 2020s due to very pro-business subsidizes and tax incentives. Ireland has also continued to overwhelmingly profit from it's very American business friendly tax legislation. All these countries have enough pull together to push back on any attempts at coercing American tech companies in a manner that other EU members may want. Furthermore, they themselves have shown how the EU can better attract American companies to build a European presence - they need to become friendly to FDI and foreign players potentially dominating a market. The issue is Germany and France (logically) tend to oppose this as their own domestic competitors are getting undercut.
• hunglee2 1y ago
  yes, I suspect a version of the GFW may emerge from EU red tape - a 'great thicket' perhaps? However, I suspect Trump will go ape and force the EU to back down, like they already have by dropping Digital Tax. I think EU Great Firewall can only happen inadvertently now, the governments are too dependent on the voting public (being democracies) and now also too dominated by the US. Permanent vassalage is the end point, though this time w/o any prospect of influence to the center
  • alephnerd 1y ago
    > I suspect a version of the GFW may emerge from EU red tape - a 'great thicket' perhaps Barely. There's a reason American bigtech FDI within the EU has largely coalesced around Ireland, Poland, Czechia, Romania, and Bulgaria - they rolled out the red carpet and tried to reduce any acrimony that American companies might have. They are also the most lax with enforcing EU digital regulations, as enforcement falls under national sovereignity. > I suspect Trump will go ape and force the EU to back down, like they already have by dropping Digital Tax Pretty much. BigTech can afford GRC, not startups. VC overwhelmingly backed Trump for this reason as Vance promised to fight digital export barriers (and largely delivered in the UK and Canada) > Permanent vassalage is the end point, though this time w/o any prospect of influence to the center I'm not sure. I think what will happen is the return of the primacy of individual states trying to curry favor with major powers, which has already started to happen. Look at Hungary rolling the red carpet to Chinese FDI as a bulwark against the EU; Czechia and the Baltics adopting an avowedly pro-Taiwan stance in order to curry favor from the US; and Italy+Greece leveraging IMEC to re-negotiate better terms on OBOR-related investments from the 2010s. In most context, "Europe" has almost always been used to denote Germany Inc. I wouldn't be surprised if Wang Yi ranted this exact same thing to Kallas during their 4 hour meeting which apparently lead to the entire China-EU summit being canceled. Similar incidents arose with American, Turkish, and Indian negotiators as well, all of whom prefer to work directly with national leaders instead of the EU leadership. European countries now need to choose between the US or China. There is no other way.