1. GERMAN DISAPPROVAL FUELS CONSERVATIVE SURGE

A new INSA poll reported by Die Welt reveals the scale of Germany’s political crisis, and the establishment has no answers.

84 percent of Germans say they feel “great or very great” concern about the state of affairs in their country. A further 64% say they cannot see any combination of parties capable of turning things around.

That anxiety is sending Germans to the one party the establishment refuses to work with. The AfD now sits at 29%, making it the most popular party in Germany. The “centre-right” CDU trails at 22%, following a horrendous first year from Chancellor Merz.

This follows polling showing 78% of Germans believe Chancellor Merz has failed to solve the migration crisis. The establishment keeps making the same moves over and over, continuing to make matters worse in Germany. Germans have lost their confidence in their leadership, and it is pushing more and more people to the AfD.

2. BRUSSELS WHITEWASHES THE DMA’S FAILURES

The European Commission recently released its review of its Digital Markets Act (DMA), claiming the regulation has had a “positive impact” and has helped establish fairer markets and greater choice for users and businesses. But as one recent analysis from AEI points out, this flattering self-assessment is far from impartial.

As part of this review, American firms subject to the DMA’s stringent regulations were provided the opportunity to provide candid input on the framework; however, despite working through the proper legal and regulatory channels to flag the tangible consequences of the DMA’s obligations, Brussels elected not to include any of it. The Commission instead built out the report with testimony exclusively taken from stakeholders and organizations already predisposed to support the regulation.

The review also ignored a growing body of independent, peer-reviewed studies documenting how the DMA has stalled innovation and degraded services, along with others that undermine the core justifications for some of its most sweeping prohibitions. As the DMA faces criticism both abroad and domestically, Brussels appears to have artificially engineered the report to make it appear successful even as evidence of its failures continues to pile up.

As US companies struggle to remain compliant with the burdensome regulation, the ramifications of Brussels’ decision to conceal the DMA’s deficiencies have begun to spread beyond just the US companies designated as gatekeepers. European consumers, for one, have increasingly had to absorb price hikes resulting from EU taxes being passed onto them. Unfortunately for them, the Commission’s doctored self-review does nothing to address that reality since an acknowledgement of these deficiencies would threaten the regulatory framework itself and the vast financial and bureaucratic resources Brussels has put into it.

The Commission may be hoping that a favorable self-review buys it time before the next round of transatlantic negotiations, but the Trump Administration has already shown its willingness to fight on behalf of American innovators abroad, especially those being taken advantage of. The Commission should not expect this support to waiver and, given that, must consider recalibrating their approach. If Brussels continues to shut gatekeeper voices out of its own review process while simultaneously demanding their compliance, it can expect a more formidable response – be it through tariffs, diplomatic leverage, or other means.

THE ART OF HONORING THE DEAL

The US and EU have finally reached a trade deal.

Following President Trump’s May 1st announcement of a 25% tariff on EU passenger cars and light trucks, the EU finally reached a trade agreement with the US. The deal includes a 15% on most European exports, while duties are being lowered on U.S. industrial products, and expands preferential access on some American agricultural and seafood products.

After months of negotiations, the EU found itself at a standstill. The European Parliament decided to attempt to rewrite the deal by adding four new amendments, including sunset clauses and suspension mechanisms that were never part of the original agreement, but at long last, a deal has been reached.

U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder pointed out in his latest op-ed that when President Trump took office, the U.S. faced a $235 billion trade-in-goods deficit with the EU, the result of years of other presidents allowing Europe to play by its own rules. President Trump imposed tariffs, forced negotiations, and in July 2025, struck the Turnberry Agreement, a framework on reciprocal, fair, and balanced trade. The U.S. delivered immediately, while Brussels tried “to move the goalposts while the game is underway.”

Brussels wanted to force the hand of America, but President Trump set the terms. Brussels, eventually, had no choice but to accept them.

1. EUROPE’S AUTOMAKERS ARE BEGGING BRUSSELS TO STOP

Europe’s auto industry is in crisis. German automakers, including Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, headed to Brussels to renew lobbying against the EU’s suffocating CO2 emissions rules that would crush their industry.

The numbers tell the story: Automakers warned that Germany’s auto sector alone could lose 225,000 total jobs by 2035 if more bureaucratic red tape is added and competitiveness does not improve. Under current proposals, fleet emissions from new cars in 2035 must be 90 percent lower than 2021 levels. At the same time, renewable fuels remain costly, unreliable, and scarce.

While Brussels forces European automakers into an EV-only future, Chinese competitors like BYD are flooding the market, car sales haven’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and European factories sit underused. As one supplier association leader put it: “We need to create the flexibility in the policy environment to react to what the market actually is able to accept.”

This is an industry being crushed by ideological mandates it cannot meet, and it is now shouting that from the rooftops in Brussels. The EU’s environmental extremism doesn’t just cost jobs; it hands market share to China on a silver platter.

2. FRENCH FARMERS ARE BACK

Farmers in France are taking their tractors to the streets again, and this time, they’re targeting the rising costs of fuel. Dozens of farmers descended on Lyon on Monday, blockading a key TotalEnergies refinery loading point and marching on the Rhône prefecture, demanding relief from soaring energy costs. The price of agricultural non-road diesel has skyrocketed from €0.90 to €1.70 per litre: a 70 percent increase in just four months.

Rhône’s Rural Coordination leader Bertrand Molinier said: “We are here to raise the voice of farmers who can no longer do so economically. We have had an increase in costs, but sales prices are not keeping up.”

France’s leadership has failed its farmers, refusing to deliver the structural changes the agricultural community is demanding. As the head of the region’s union said, farmers have reached their “limit” and want “structural changes, not small measures.” The people who feed France deserve better than a government that ignores them.

BRITAIN BACK TO BRUSSELS?

In another display of political surrender, the British government introduced legislation to formally strengthen ties between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The so-called “European Partnership Bill” is designed to implement EU agreements with Britain “now and in the future.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under fire after Labour suffered heavy losses in Scottish, Welsh, and local English elections last week and is responding to political failure not by listening to voters, but by rushing back into Brussels’ arms. His own government has already admitted that Britain must “align with EU regulations by default” in key industries.

His own government has already admitted that Britain must “align with EU regulations by default” in key industries.

Britain voted for Brexit to take back control. Now, Starmer is engineering regulatory alignment with the EU, locking British businesses and consumers into Brussels’ rule book, without membership, without a vote, and without a voice. Britain will be subject to EU laws without having any say in how they are made.

This is the EU’s reach made manifest. You don’t even have to be a member anymore. Brussels’ regulatory tentacles extend far beyond its borders, and the people of Britain will pay the price.

1. BRUSSELS IS BILLING THEIR OWN FARMERS INTO OBLIVION

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) was created to protect European industry. Instead, it’s quietly crushing the people who grow Europe’s food. A major farming group warns the carbon tariff on fertilizer imports could cost European farmers up to €39 billion over the next seven years.

The squeeze on farmers is already real. Groups like Copa-Cogeca estimate direct CBAM costs at €820 million in 2026, rising to €3.4 billion by 2034. If European fertilizer producers respond to reduced competition by hiking prices too, the total bill climbs toward that €39 billion ceiling.

This comes on top of nitrogen fertilizer prices already up 30%-60% in recent years due to global energy volatility. Meanwhile, some competing imports arrive under looser standards, with no equivalent environmental burden, no mirror clauses, and no level playing field.

Brussels is mandating a green transition that European farmers are being forced to fund alone.

2. MERZ JOINS EUROPE’S COALITION OF THE UNPOPULAR

Friedrich Merz spent his first year as German Chancellor lecturing the world on foreign policy while his country fell apart at home. His reward: the lowest approval rating of any major European leader. Just 11% of Germans say they are satisfied with the government’s performance, with a crushing 87% unhappy, and that dissatisfaction cuts across even his own party’s base.

According to YouGov, Merz sits at a staggering minus 52, edging out France’s Emmanuel Macron (minus 49) and Britain’s Keir Starmer (minus 44) for the title of most despised leader on the continent. Not even supporters of his own party think he’s doing a good job. German news has reported cracks inside the coalition, with talk of early dissolution and a snap election already circulating.

Europe’s ruling class is unpopular, out of touch, and running out of time. Brussels can’t fix what its own leaders broke.

EU INFIGHTING AS TRADE DEAL DEADLINE LOOMS

The US struck a transatlantic trade framework deal with the EU last year, but Brussels still can’t get its act together enough to finalize it. Nearly a year later, the bloc is locked in an internal standoff over auto tariffs with no resolution in sight. Left-wing MEPs led by trade committee chair Bernd Lange are blocking ratification, while Germany and the Commission are desperate to get the deal with the US across the finish line before increased tariffs on European autos supports are official.

Member countries are struggling to come to a consensus among themselves on the common framework. Far-left Spain wants to insert “safeguard” amendments into the deal, but Germany opposes any new amendments that could antagonize President Trump, since their automotive sector will be one of the hardest hit.

France is seeking to find the common ground between their neighbors, but little progress has been made.

The Commission is left pleading that “a deal is a deal” while its own Parliament plays games. The EU can’t negotiate with the rest of the world when it can’t even negotiate with itself. Brussels built this mess, and European workers are living in it.

1. GERMANY DOUBLES DOWN ON GREEN FAILURE

The German parliament has approved a sweeping new climate law requiring oil companies to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 65% by 2040, exceeding even the government’s own initial proposal of 59%. The government’s estimates project additional costs of €2.7 billion by 2030, alongside increased bureaucracy and regulatory burden on businesses and households.

Germany already gutted its energy base by phasing out nuclear power and several other sources. A planned 9,000 kilometer hydrogen pipeline network won’t be complete until 2032 at the earliest. Domestic biomass and green hydrogen capacity remains severely underdeveloped. Berlin is mandating a transformation it cannot yet build, and increasing energy import dependency in the process.

2. FRANCE CRACKS DOWN ON NICOTINE POUCHES

France has made it a criminal offense to possess a product that is perfectly legal in the country next door, and now Brussels is being forced to decide what the EU actually stands for.

This month, France banned the sale, possession, and use of oral nicotine pouches, meaning a traveler who legally purchased the product in Sweden or Germany faces criminal penalties the moment they enter France. Members of the European Parliament have formally asked the Commission to investigate whether Paris has violated the EU’s free movement of goods.

The logic doesn’t hold up either. Cigarettes remain legal in France. Vaping products are still available. The ban targets a category widely used across the EU as a smoking alternative.

This is Europe’s regulatory state at its most incoherent, member states inventing their own rules, contradicting the bloc’s founding principles, and leaving consumers and businesses caught in the crossfire.

THE BRUSSELS’ BLAME GAME

While Brussels and national governments argue over who is to blame for Europe’s red tape catastrophe, European businesses are drowning, and no one is throwing a lifeline.

According to Politico EU, the European Commission unveiled a regulatory overhaul promising a “deep cleaning” across 12 priority areas, with a target of cutting administrative costs by €37.7 billion a year by 2029. But rather than lead with action, the Commission opened with a blame game, using the word “gold-plating” 20 times to point fingers at member states for piling extra requirements on top of Brussels mandates.

Here’s the truth: both are guilty. And while they argue, European companies fall even further behind U.S. companies. As German MEP Christian Doleschal put it: “Turning a blind eye is not an option.”

Stop the finger-pointing. Start cutting the red tape! European businesses need relief now, not a bureaucratic blame war.

1. TRUMP STANDS UP TO BRUSSELS’ BIG TECH SHAKEDOWN

Over just the past two years, the European Commission handed down more than $7 billion in fines to American tech companies under its Digital Markets Act. Over two decades, the total hits $25 billion extracted from American innovators.

Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jacob Helberg recently put the EU on blast, saying, “The biggest single source of ​friction in the U.S.-EU relationship from an economic standpoint is the recurrent ​fines, very onerous punitive fines instituted on U.S. companies.”

The Commission, after years of attempting to stonewall American concerns, is now returning to the negotiating table following tariff threats and sustained pressure from the Trump administration.

President Trump has been fighting for American companies since he took office last year. If the EU wants to have a better relationship with the United States, the Trump Administration has made it clear: No more ridiculous regulations.

2. SPAIN SELLS OUT EUROPE TO BEIJING

In another attempt by EU nations to kneecap European business, Spain is hearing out Beijing’s demands to further cripple its own economy.

Bloomberg reports China is directly pressuring Spain to kill the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act, the “Made in Europe” proposal that would require EU nations to prioritize domestic companies in public procurement and rebuild European manufacturing to 20% of GDP by 2035.

During PM Pedro Sánchez’s Beijing trip, Chinese officials “complained that Europe was becoming too protectionist,” per Bloomberg, and lobbied Spain to sink the proposal.

The revitalization of Europe depends on leaders pushing back against foreign influence and investing in their manufacturing at home.

According to the EU Observer, Spain is running a €42.3 billion trade deficit with China, 74% of its total trade deficit, while Chinese investment in Spain surged from €149 million to €643 million in a single year. Sánchez signed 19 deals with Beijing during the trip.

The Industrial Accelerator Act is one of the few serious proposals to stop China from hollowing out European industry. And Spain may be trying to kill it on Beijing’s behalf.

EUROPE VULNERABLE TO SCAMS, THANKS TO DIGITAL LAWS

According to a recent article, the European Commission’s enforcement of their digital laws is actually making Europeans less safe online.

The article highlights one of several fundamental contradictions in how Brussels is applying the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act. Google developed its Site Reputation Abuse Policy to combat “parasite SEO,” a technique where bad actors hijack the credibility of trusted websites to push malware and scam content to the top of search results. Rather than applaud these protections, the Commission is treating them as a potential DMA violation.

This creates a lose-lose situation for U.S. companies and their consumers. If they maintain their security filters and continue protecting EU-users from known scams, platforms risk triggering massive DMA fines. Conversely, If they do away with their scam safeguards, platforms open themselves up to DSA-based penalties for failing to shield EU users from spam, malware, and deceptive content which the DSA is intended to prevent.

Even more problematic is that Brussels’ approach runs directly counter to what European consumers want. 81% of Europeans oppose any regulation that would force search engines to elevate scammer’s content, while 78% want platforms to continue filtering spam even if it affects traffic to certain sites.

The EU is also opening up Europeans to fraud and malicious actors through their mandating of “sideloading,” which allows the installation of apps on devices from third parties even if they don’t meet gatekeepers’ privacy and security standards. While American platforms have long supported third-party apps and marketplaces, the issue centers around DMA obligations, which override safeguards intended to oversee these digital marketplaces. With malware incidents on smartphones recently tripling, Brussels would be better off prioritizing the security of its own users, instead of forcing gatekeepers to dismantle their security safeguards to facilitate openness.

With the DMA review coming in May, the European Commission should seize the opportunity to address these contradictions before scammers inflict meaningful financial damage on its populace, and take a more balanced approach to DMA and DSA enforcement that doesn’t put American companies in an unwinnable position.

1. STARMER PUSHES EU TAKEOVER

Keir Starmer is quietly dismantling Brexit. According to the European Conservative, new legislation expected later this year would lock the UK into automatic regulatory alignment with the EU, making Britain subject to new EU laws without a vote each time. The Labour PM long promised the UK would not rejoin the single market or customs union. Obviously, Starmer found a loophole to his promise; this bill would let him break that pledge in everything but name.

Reform leader Nigel Farage put it bluntly: “The British people didn’t vote to become rule-takers, and we will fight this every step of the way.” Starmer’s government is once again showing disregard for the interests of the British people.

2. FRENCH STATE MEDIA IS ROTTING FROM THE INSIDE

France’s left-wing public broadcasting machine is finally being held to account, and the numbers are damning. A four-month parliamentary inquiry led by conservative MP Charles Alloncle uncovered what everyone suspected: corruption, rampant mismanagement, and brazen political collusion at France’s state broadcasters.

The inquiry ran 67 hearings and heard from 234 witnesses. What emerged was a €80 million deficit quietly accumulated since 2017, all while public broadcasting hoovers up over €3 billion annually, representing more than half of France’s entire culture ministry budget.

TRUMP FORCES BRUSSELS BACK TO THE TABLE AFTER $9 BILLION SHAKEDOWN

The damage that the European Commission’s digital regulations like the Digital Markets Act have wreaked on American companies since entering into force in 2023 have been substantial, but according to recently-released statistics, the costs may be far higher than previously imagined.

Over just the last two years, the European Commission has handed down penalties of more than $7 billion to American companies under its digital regulatory framework. Taking into account the $1 billion in annual compliance fees spent between U.S. companies, the total costs since 2024 exceed $9 Billion.

Thankfully, President Trump isn’t letting his foot off the gas, being sure the EU knows not to mess with American companies. The Commission, despite spending years refusing to engage American concerns, is returning to the negotiating table following tariff threats and sustained diplomatic pressure from the Trump Administration.

After Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth Jacob Helberg’s recent warning that “another round of fines could be imposed on U.S. companies in the near future, never has it been more important for the Trump Administration to maintain their pressure campaign against the EU.

1. NOW IS YOUR CHANCE, FRANCE

France’s April 2027 presidential election is shaping up to be the country’s most consequential in a generation, and with that, a chance for France to oust the leadership of Macron’s left. According to a new poll, National Rally’s Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella dominate the first round, pulling between 31.5% and 38%, a double-digit lead over every competitor.

The only candidate polling to beat them in a hypothetical second round is former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, a Macron loyalist who champions progressive EU policies, who came in with around 20% of the vote.

The National Rally has the opportunity to take France back from the disaster that was the Macron presidency. After five prime ministers and an approval rating that cratered to 28%, Macron’s blind loyalty to Brussels overregulation has finally caught up with him. Now, his allies are calling for a “unity” candidate to defeat NR and continue the same weak leadership as Macron.

France has suffered enough under poor leadership. The 2027 election is their opportunity to finally reject the failures of the left and choose sovereignty, prosperity, and commonsense leadership… they must seize it.

2. TRUMP FIGHTS FOR AMERICA — WARREN SIDES WITH THE EU

President Trump is taking the fight to European regulators who have spent years targeting America’s most successful tech companies. His administration pressured the EU to ease up on its aggressive investigations into U.S. firms, a major win for American workers, American innovation, and American economic leadership on the world stage.

Now, Senator Elizabeth Warren is more interested in scoring political points than standing up for American workers.

Warren sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative asking that President Trump stop defending American companies from foreign regulators. She called the White House’s efforts to protect U.S. businesses an attempt to “secure advantages for the President and his tech billionaire friends.” Translation: standing up for American jobs and American companies is, according to Warren, a scandal.

The EU’s Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act aren’t neutral consumer protection laws. They are targeted regulatory weapons used against America’s most innovative companies, the same companies that employ millions of Americans and fuel economic growth here at home. For years, Washington did nothing while Europe picked off U.S. firms one by one. President Trump changed that.

Warren’s message to European regulators is simple: don’t worry, we’ll stop him. That’s not dissent. That’s working against America.

President Trump is doing exactly what a Commander-in-Chief should do, putting American interests first, fighting for American businesses, and refusing to let foreign governments dictate the rules of our economy. Warren just made clear which side she’s on. It isn’t ours.

EU WANTS AMERICAN TECH TO “FEEL THE PAIN”

The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have made clear they will not stand idly by while European regulators discriminate against American tech companies. Despite sustained pressure from Washington, EU lawmakers are digging in, and their defiance is telling.

EU lawmakers are brushing off an appeal from the U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder for renewed dialogue on the DMA and DSA.

Speaking about Puzder’s request, German MEP Andreas Schwab insisted the rules “were made for the benefit of consumers and companies, including American companies.”

This is a hard sell, however, considering nearly every company designated as a “gatekeeper” under the DMA is American. The designation has massive financial implications for American industry, and European companies have almost entirely been left off the list. If these rules were designed equally, European firms would be sharing the burden — yet Brussels is fining U.S. tech companies more than it collects in taxes from its own tech sector.

German Green MEP Alexandra Geese went further, arguing that Washington’s “obsession” with EU tech rules “should make us suspicious.” Nothing about an American President looking out for their country’s tech industry by pushing back against unprecedented fines is suspicious, however. If the EU expected the Trump Administration to stand idly by as the U.S. tech industry is fined at will to the tune of nearly €4 billion per year, they severely miscalculated President Trump’s willingness to defend American industry.

The most revealing argument, however, came from Ella Jakubowska of the digital rights group EDRi. She suggested that U.S. companies “feeling the pain” of fines and enforcement actions are actually evidence that the regulations are working, and that the Commission “should be doubling down” on them. This out-of-touch statement is indicative of why Europe’s tech industry has continued to struggle.

While Brussels celebrates squeezing American companies, its own tech sector has fallen further behind, and European businesses and consumers are footing part of the bill too In a sign of what is to come, Meta hiked its fees for European advertisers last month in response to Brussels’ digital taxes, effectively passing the tax down to European businesses and consumers.

Brussels’ predatory regulations are jeopardizing Trump’s Golden Age, and if the EU won’t engage on their own accord, the Trump administration should make sure the cost of staying away is too high to ignore. It’s time to further tighten the screws until Brussels comes to the table prepared to negotiate.

1. RN’S HISTORIC LOCAL SURGE

France’s March 22nd municipal elections delivered a stunning result: The conservative Rassemblement National (RN) claimed what the party itself called its “greatest breakthrough in history.” According to the European Conservative, with a 57% turnout, RN candidates racked up approximately 1,300 municipal officials elected in the first round and garnered a three-to fourfold increase in municipal councillors in the second round.

The RN prevailed in a range of medium-sized cities, including Agde, Carcassonne, Carpentras, and Menton, and broke into new territory, including Montargis. In Nice, France’s fifth-largest city, RN-allied candidate Éric Ciotti defeated the Macronist incumbent outright.

The Left’s strategy of allying with the far-left La France Insoumise backfired spectacularly. In Clermont-Ferrand and La Flèche, two places that have been socialist strongholds for over 4 decades, voters elected conservative leaders.

The message from French voters is clear: the conservative party is no longer just a protest vote; they’re taking the reins.

2. BRUSSELS THREATENS BROADCAST

The European Commission is evaluating another expansion of its Digital Markets Act following an appeal from European broadcasters who want smart TVs and virtual assistants made by predominantly American tech companies to be brought under the DMA’s “gatekeeper” obligations.

The request, made by the Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe, whose members include Italy’s Mediaset, France’s Canal+, and Luxembourg’s RTL, also featured several European organizations as signatories, such as the Association of European Radios, the European Broadcasting Union, and the European Association of Television.

But as the Commission looks to expand the scope of the DMA, they have found themselves on increasingly unstable footing. Under their digital regulatory framework, a platform must generate at least €7.5 billion in annual EU revenue or hold a market cap of €75 billion to qualify as a gatekeeper. American smart TV and virtual assistant operators, however, don’t clear that bar. In fact, they don’t come close.

This obstacle hasn’t deterred European broadcasters though. To sidestep the issue, they have requested the Commission to adjust their criteria and ground their decision on qualitative, rather than quantitative, factors.

The precedent at stake, however, is just as dangerous as the proposal is ridiculous. Brussels hasn’t been subtle about targeting American companies to help subsidize their European rivals, but for the request to come from European companies themselves is an incredibly troubling development. If the Commission were to acquiesce to their wishes and designate the US smart TV and virtual assistant operators as gatekeepers, the decision would all but open the floodgates by incentivizing European companies to lobby for their American competitors to be designated as a gatekeeper even if they don’t meet the threshold.

While originally intended to ensure so-called “fair competition,” the DMA is poised to allow the exact opposite to happen by permitting the DMA to be weaponized by European tech companies to kneecap their American peers. If Brussels doesn’t adjust its approach, it risks setting a dangerous precedent with the potential to further inflame a transatlantic relationship which is already on shaky ground.

MEMBER COUNTRIES PUSH BACK AGAINST ETS

Brussels’ regulatory system is strangling European businesses, and member states have had enough. Last week, 10 EU member countries came together to discuss the Emissions Trading System (ETS), a carbon output program that strangles businesses that operate in the EU.

Energy prices across the EU have been pushed to breaking point by years of heavy-handed green regulation. The EU’s Emissions Trading System forces companies to pay for every ton of CO₂ they emit, piling costs on businesses already struggling. Now the EU is a place where employers can’t compete and working families can’t keep up.

These member states, including Italy and Austria, are demanding that Brussels ease the Green Deal-style regulations. Instead, the EU said it would “review” the system by July.

1. SPAIN DEPLOYS AI TO SPY ON YOUR SPEECH

Spain’s government under Pedro Sánchez has launched HODIO, an AI-powered platform designed to monitor social media content and measure what authorities broadly define as “hate speech” and “polarization” online.

According to the European Conservative, the system, developed by a government agency under Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, will conduct large-scale collection of social media posts, analyze them with algorithms, and produce public rankings naming which platforms allow the most “problematic” content to spread.

Legal experts and digital rights specialists are already warning that HODIO amounts to “a large-scale surveillance mechanism allowing political power to constantly monitor the climate of opinion online.”

With this and the EU’s Digital Services Act, American companies are being forced to further comply with the EU’s regulatory overreach.

2. NEW REPORT REVEALS THE STAGGERING COST OF EUROPE’S REGULATORY CRUSADE AGAINST AMERICAN BUSINESS

As Brussels continues to aggressively push its regulatory agenda, a new antitrust enforcement report has revealed just how imbalanced the transatlantic relationship has become, and that the EU has no plans of slowing down.

Nowhere is this asymmetry more evident than in the Commission’s handling of dominance investigations. Just last year, the European Commission recorded the highest number of abuse of dominance fines of any authority worldwide, while U.S. regulators didn’t impose a single fine. Moreover, of the $7.7 billion in global antitrust fines issued last year, a staggering $7 billion were handed down by Europe – most of which were directed at American companies.

Worse yet, the EU is ramping up these fines as time goes on. Over the past three years, for example, EU enforcement has only increased, with fines rising from $589.8 million in 2023 to $2.3 billion in 2024, and $2.5 billion in 2025.

As Brussels recently discovered, however, American companies aren’t the only ones feeling the pain on account of their regulatory approach. Rather, many of these costs have ultimately flowed down to European businesses and consumers in the form of higher prices as more and more U.S. companies have simply passed off the additional fees to their European customers.

With the Trump Administration continued backing American companies through its opposition to the Digital Markets Act and other onerous EU regulations, the EU would be wise to scale back – not escalate – its regulatory agenda, and avoid a deepening of transatlantic tensions which European customers and businesses are increasingly bearing the brunt of.

EU’S SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTIVES THREATEN AMERICAN ENERGY DOMINANCE

A retired US Army Brigadier General and former deputy US military representative to NATO is sounding the alarm in a new op-ed, arguing that the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is a direct threat to American energy dominance.

Writing in Energy Intelligence, John Adams warns that the directive “injects additional compliance and liability considerations into that equation, potentially complicating an otherwise promising trade and strategic relationship.”

The EU has continued to expand its regulatory regime over the past several years, making it more difficult for American companies to operate. Adams makes it clear: “Europe cannot credibly seek expanded energy trade with the US while simultaneously increasing legal exposure for the firms expected to supply that energy.”

1. EUROPEAN CONSUMERS PAY THE PRICE FOR BRUSSELS’ REGULATORY AGENDA

For years, the EU has sought to boost its own tech sector at the expense of American companies which it has deemed too powerful under its digital regulatory framework. But as one recent article makes clear, ordinary European consumers and businesses are also picking up the tab.

The decision reflects an increasingly common approach US companies are forced to deploy to grapple with the increased costs imposed under the EU’s digital regulatory framework. Higher advertising costs mean increased marketing expenses for businesses operating in Europe, and – while these regulations may generate welcome headlines in Brussels – these costs don’t just disappear. They get passed down the chain to the small businesses, brands, and entrepreneurs who depend on these platforms to reach customers instead, ultimately forcing the EU’s own citizens to foot the bill.

For the EU, the move also demonstrates how their regulatory approach can backfire as fines, fees, and compliance expenses continue to pile up under the EU’s DMA and DSA. While Meta may be the one of the first companies to take this step, they surely won’t be the last.

This development should serve as a warning sign for Brussels. As long as the Commission maintains its current regulatory framework, other American “gatekeepers” will inevitably follow suit. And when they do, it won’t just be U.S. tech firms absorbing the impact – it will be the European businesses and consumers.

2. CHINA’S GRIP ON EUROPE’S PORTS

Recent reporting shows China holds stakes in more than 48 European ports, including Hamburg and Rotterdam, and fully controls the Port of Piraeus. Lawmakers have spoken out and highlighted that roughly 74% of all E.U. goods move through seaports, making them strategic assets at the heart of Europe’s economic security.

China is the E.U.’s second-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting €732 billion in 2024. Brussels itself calls China “simultaneously a partner, a competitor, and a systemic rival,” a contradiction growing harder to ignore.

The E.U. is currently pursuing the Industrial Accelerator Act, which did not name China directly, but officials have provisions that aim to cut reliance on Chinese batteries, solar panels, and electric vehicles in order to decrease dependence. Beijing’s state media, the China Daily, has already called the effort “protectionist” and insists it would add friction to what is otherwise a “win-win partnership.”

Europe’s reliance on China has grown to levels where they no longer feel in control. Their dependency on other countries has once again put them in a difficult position.

VON DER LEYEN’S “INTELLIGENCE CELL”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pushing to establish an internal “intelligence cell” intended to collect and centralize intelligence from across Europe, overseen by the Commission President herself, according to the European Conservative.

The initiative, announced in November, was framed as a measure to protect the bloc from Russian digital attacks and sabotage. But the power grab triggered immediate backlash from European capitals and the EU’s own diplomatic service, which already operates its own intelligence-sharing center.

This is Brussels doing what Brussels does best, using a crisis as a pretext to strip member states of sovereignty and consolidate control at the top. Von der Leyen has since been forced to soften the plan following a standoff with EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.

The EU already struggles to respect the boundaries of its member states. The last thing Europe needs is an unelected Commission president running her own intelligence apparatus.