The European Union's rules on content moderation, digital competition and artificial intelligence are not up for negotiation with the U.S., the European Commission's tech chief Henna Virkkunen says. | Oliver Hoslet/EPA
BRUSSELS — The European Union's rules on content moderation, digital competition and artificial intelligence are not up for negotiation with the U.S., the European Commission's tech chief Henna Virkkunen says.
Virkkunen drew a line in the sand in an interview with POLITICO just ahead of a new round of
talks between EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday. The two sides were
reported to be inching closer to a deal that includes how U.S. tech companies are treated under the EU's
Digital Markets Act.
"The [Digital Services Act], the [Digital Markets Act] and the AI Act of course, these are very important rules for us to make sure that we have trustworthy technologies," Virkkunen said.
"So, this is not part of trade negotiations from our side."
The rules are not up for negotiation because they are "based on our European values," Virkkunen underlined.
The Trump administration and U.S. tech executives have pushed back strongly against the EU's tech rules in recent months, arguing that the Digital Services Act would allow Americans to be censored, and that the Digital Markets Act unfairly targets U.S. companies.
Washington has also called for the EU's AI Act to be paused, a demand that is now gaining traction among European government officials and several EU tech executives.
Virkkunen also rebuffed the framing of EU tech fines as "tariffs," saying the Commission is not "looking for fines" and that the penalties are meant to force companies to comply.
The EU's tech chief also indicated that the Commission is proceeding full steam ahead with its ongoing probes under the bloc's Digital Services Act, and promised that several of them will reach fruition soon.
"There are so many investigations in the pipeline that we are also able to come to conclusions with many of them in the coming weeks and months," she said.
The most anticipated probe concerns Elon Musk's X.
The platform was found last summer
to be in preliminary breach of the EU's content moderation rules regarding dark patterns, advertising transparency and data access for researchers.
Virkkunen declined to comment on whether it would now be easier for the Commission to wrap up the probe and issue a fine against X and Musk, given that the tech billionaire has fallen out of favor with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump
didn't rule out deporting Musk on Tuesday.
"When we are investigating the platforms, it's based [on] evidence and based [on] our Digital Services Act, and not [on] who's the owner," Virkkunen said.
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