1. 📉 THE EU’S WAR ON PRIVATE INDUSTRY

In 2024, the EU’s new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), launched with the goal of raising the bar for human rights and environmental responsibility. It requires large companies, EU‑based or not, that make at least €450 million a year in the EU to create climate action plans and check their supply chains for human rights or environmental issues. If companies do not follow the rules, they could be fined up to 5% of their global revenue.

Why this matters:

It extends EU rules far beyond Europe, casting a regulatory net over U.S. companies.

The compliance burden is heavy: companies have to map their whole supply chain, look for risks, take steps to reduce harm, create complaint systems, and publish plans for how they’ll become more sustainable.

The directive, which imposes strict climate and human rights compliance requirements across global supply chains, is drawing criticism from U.S. companies for overreaching and potentially damaging investment.

“It’s irresponsible!” Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said late last month, pointing to the complex rules and steep fines, likely to drive businesses away from Europe.

“It is some of the worst legislation I’ve seen passed anywhere in the world,” he continued.

CSDDD is part of the EU’s broader push of overregulation, and critics argue it puts ideology over economic pragmatism. Woods warned that these regulations and policies have made the energy market in Europe uncompetitive and slowed economic growth.

While European leaders defend the law as a moral and environmental imperative, many others see it as yet another example of bureaucratic overreach with serious consequences for jobs and growth.

2. 📱 AMERICAN TECH PUSHES BACK

The EU bureaucracy is at it again.

Brussels continues to push forward with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), imposing strict guidelines on how American tech companies can design their products and structure their business models.

All the while, these regulators are pushing companies like Google, Meta, and Apple to comply with DMA regulations that are making it impossible to comply with.

That’s no surprise, given the EU’s long track record of pushing a heavy-handed, ideologically driven regulatory agenda.

The good news? American tech companies are doing everything in their power to meet the EU’s unworkable demands and fighting back with legal challenges when the rules cross the line.

Make no mistake, President Trump has the back of American tech companies in this fight – even going so far as to ensure these ludicrous regulations are front and center in trade talks with the EU. Just look at how he got Canada to bend to his demands on this issue.

3. 🇪🇺 EUROPE’S FREE RIDE IS ON THE LINE

At the 2025 NATO Summit, President Trump’s message was clear: It’s time Europe pay its fair share. In a recent op-ed, EU-US Forum Senior Advisor Matt Mowers highlights how President Trump will hold Europe accountable:

“For decades, European nations have benefited from American strength, innovation, and generosity, without paying their fair share or offering reciprocal treatment. They happily take our protection, our products, our technology, and our money and turn around and lecture us about democracy and the economy. It’s a rigged game, and the American people are paying the price.”

The high costs for Americans don’t just end at high tariffs or endless regulations, in his op-ed, Mowers also continued by saying:

“A new analysis found that 26% of U.S. drug prices go toward offsetting the costs that other countries avoid. It’s a silent tax on every American patient – and we’ve been paying it for years.”

🔥 VDL IN THE HOT SEAT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently faced a tense debate in the European Parliament as she defended her leadership against a motion of censure introduced by 77 Members of European Parliament (MEPs).

The motion accuses VDL of various missteps, including unlawful use of Article 122 to push through a €150 billion defense package and broader concerns about transparency and democratic procedures. von der Leyen of course rejected these accusations, characterizing them as baseless conspiracies. Despite this, the debate revealed internal tensions within the Parliament, particularly among centrist and progressive groups that have traditionally backed von der Leyen.

The censure motion, which requires a two-thirds majority of votes cast and the support of a majority of all MEPs to pass, is widely expected to fail, a threshold met only once before, in 1999.

The final vote is scheduled for Thursday, July 10, and will be conducted by roll-call, making each MEP’s decision publicly visible.