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Brussels is reviewing its investigations of tech giants including Apple, Meta and Google, just as US groups are calling on President-elect Donald Trump to intervene against what they describe as overzealous EU enforcement.
The review, which could lead to the European Commission reducing or changing the scope of investigations, will cover all cases launched since March last year under EU regulations on the digital marketaccording to two officials briefed on the move.
It comes as the Brussels-based body begins a new five-year term amid mounting pressure on its handling of key cases and as Trump prepares to return to the White House next week.
“It’s going to be a whole new game with this one technical oligarchs so close to Trump and are using it to pressure us,” said a senior EU diplomat familiar with the review. “So much is up in the air right now.”
All decisions and potential fines will be paused while the review is completed, but technical work on the cases will continue, officials said.
While some of the investigations under consideration are at an early stage, others are more advanced. Charges in the investigation into Google’s alleged favoritism in its app store were expected last year.
Two other EU officials said regulators in Brussels were now awaiting political guidance to make a final decision on the Google, Apple and Meta cases.
The revision comes as EU lawmakers urge the Commission to buckle under US pressure, while Silicon Valley leaders hail Trump’s return as the start of an era of looser tech regulation.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, urged the president-elect on Friday to stop Brussels from punishing US tech companies, complaining that EU regulators have forced them to pay “more than $30 billion” in fines over the past 20 years.
Zuckerberg, who recently announced plans for abolish fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram — potentially in violation of EU rules — said he was convinced the new Trump administration wanted to defend American interests abroad.
The implications of Trump’s presidency were a factor in the review, one of the officials said, insisting that it was not prompted by his victory.
The commission said it “remains fully committed to the effective implementation” of its rules. “There is no delay in finalizing open non-compliance cases, and especially not for any political reasons,” an EU spokesman said.
The ongoing cases are “not yet ready at a technical level”, the spokesman added, arguing that such investigations take time due to their complexity, novelty and “the need to ensure that the commission’s decisions are legally sound”.
Before Trump’s victory, EU regulators had been aggressively cracking down on the world’s biggest tech groups, adopting a series of reforms aimed at opening up markets and setting a regulatory framework for Big Tech.
Under the Digital Markets Act, a law that seeks to curb market abuse by major platforms, Brussels launched investigations into Apple, Google and Meta last March.
The commission has also come under pressure to use the full powers of the Digital Services Act, a set of rules aimed at policing online content, to curb tech billionaire Elon Musk’s growing influence in European affairs.
Along with a similar investigation into Google’s owner Alphabet, the Commission probed whether Apple favored its own app store, as well as Facebook owner Meta’s use of personal data for ads.
Brussels is also consulting Apple’s rivals on the tech giant’s proposals to make its iOS operating system compatible with connected devices.
Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager and France’s Thierry Breton, who have both taken tough stances on US tech companies, resigned from the Commission in November.
“Priorities may be changing,” said one. “The [digital rules] they come from the previous commission.”
EU lawmakers urged regulators to stand firm. Stephanie Yon-Courtin, an MEP who helped draft the technical rules, said EU investigations cannot be sacrificed to avoid diplomatic repercussions.
In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the Commission, Yon-Courtin said the DMA “cannot be taken hostage”.
She added: “Please assure me that your Cabinet and you fully support the effective implementation of the DMA, without further delay.”
