No Privileged US Access To Europe’s Tech Law Oversight Civil Society Statement
We, the undersigned civil society organisations call on the EU Commission, in the strongest possible terms, to halt any plans to create a new “dialogue” with the US government that could compromise the enforcement of Europe’s tech laws. While international collaboration is welcome, the EU’s fundamental values, rule of law, and sovereignty to enforce its own laws on its own terms cannot be called into question.
On 1 April 2026, the Commission has publicly confirmed its intention to “set up a dialogue to reinforce our cooperation on digital technologies and markets,” in order to “clarify misunderstandings.” However innocuous the Commission’s intentions might be, recent statements from the US administration have made it clear that they are actively seeking ways to reduce enforcement of EU tech laws.
The EU’s tech law acquis has been put in place to protect people and EU markets from the harms the dominant tech firms do to our societies. The Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Digital Services Act (DSA), the AI Act, and GDPR are Europe’s first line of defence against growing authoritarianism, the targeted manipulation of our public debates online, and the oligopolistic market power of Big Tech. Their strict enforcement without political interference is absolutely crucial if Europe is to remain an independent, resilient, and competitive digitally self-determined continent.
The recent statements of the US government have made it abundantly clear that they are aligned with the interests of US tech companies and actively oppose their regulation by the EU. President Trump has threatened the EU with higher tariffs in case of further application of those laws. Public statements and reports from different arms of the US governments have attacked the DSA, misrepresented the objectives and provisions of the law, and undermined the work of independent civil society organisations.
Providing the US government with privileged access and influence over how the EU enforces its tech laws is not only a political mistake that exposes Europe to greater external pressure, it is also legally questionable. It effectively creates fresh opportunities for US Big Tech companies to compromise the very independent oversight these laws were designed to ensure.
Most of these laws already include legal procedures for regulated entities to enter into dialogue with enforcement authorities. Online platforms have ample opportunity to make their views known and provide evidence during DSA investigations that often take several years. Gatekeepers and their lobbyists are in constant exchange with the EU Commission as part of an extensive “regulatory dialogue,” in which they can provide input and find “compliance solutions” together with EU officials. Similar formats exist under GDPR and the AI Act.
The public, on the other hand, has hardly any access at all. While the EU Commission has made laudable efforts to increase transparency of DSA enforcement, and created avenues for
European civil society to contribute expertise to this work, enforcement work under the DMA is still taking place entirely behind closed doors.
There is no need to provide the US government, and by extension Big Tech firms, yet another secret “dialogue” to influence and further weaken the enforcement of Europe’s tech laws. Doing so would be deeply undemocratic, undermine the trust people have in Europe’s ability to defend its own rules, and would hurt the EU’s own interests towards digital self-determination.
That is why we, the signatories of this statement, call on the EU Commission to halt any plans to create a new “dialogue” with the US government about the enforcement of Europe’s tech laws. Instead, the EU Commission must speed up and strengthen the ongoing enforcement of our rules, while increasing transparency to maintain public trust.
Signatories:
Asocia ia pentru Tehnologie i Internet (ApTI)
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Diaspora in Action for Human Rights and Democracy (DAHRD)
European Center for Not-for-Profit Law
European Digital Rights (EDRi)
Foundation for Information Policy Research
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