
Margrethe Vestager stays on as EU competition head in blow for tech giants - jmsflknr
https://www.cityam.com/margrethe-vestager-stays-on-as-eu-competition-head-in-blow-for-tech-giants/
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mscasts
As an European I am happy over this. It feels like companies like Microsoft,
Google, Facebook etc only really care about what the US Government has to say
and it's good that the EU show these companies clearly that they have to play
nice if they are going to exist in the European market.

~~~
firebacon
Agreed; this is excellent news! A highly competent and principled government
should be a considered a good thing _regardless_ of where you stand on the
whole "big tech" debate.

~~~
v77
As a non-EU'er, the anti-trust stuff is sure hard to separate from the
promoting EU companies stuff and EU politicians certainly treat it that way.

Let's see Vestager take action against Airbus after the WTO finds against them
this fall and I'll be more convinced. Maybe they'll even take on VW Group.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Scania (VW Group) was fined €880 million 2 years ago.

[https://europa.eu/rapid/press-
release_IP-17-3502_en.htm](https://europa.eu/rapid/press-
release_IP-17-3502_en.htm)

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camillomiller
This is good news. EU is the last stronghold against big tech becoming more
powerful than Nations on the global scenario. America has had its own Chaebols
for a while now, it’s just they’re not managed by families.

~~~
basdp534
EU will learn the hard way that this kind of protectionism is creating far
bigger problems than it tries to solve. Soon all the big tech companies (read
lots of jobs) will leave for greener pastures e.g. UK, South Africa, SE-Asia,
AU.

~~~
piva00
No sane company will leave the second largest market and GDP area of the
world, it would take a really lot to make them go to "greener pastures".

"Think of the jobs" is the ultimate callout of corporate defenders, while the
EU is a huge profitable market for these companies they will stick around...
Just compare to what happens in China, if that country still attracts tech
companies then I don't think the EU will be shedding them anytime soon.

~~~
Silhouette
_No sane company will leave the second largest market and GDP area of the
world, it would take a really lot to make them go to "greener pastures"._

That isn't necessarily true at all. The EU may be a large market, but that
doesn't necessarily mean it represents a proportionately large contribution to
the revenues of any given business that trades with EU customers.

For example, in the world of small tech businesses I operate in, I know of
several examples who do offer their services to EU customers like anyone else.
However, with hindsight, those businesses would have chosen to give up the
relatively small proportion of their business that comes from elsewhere in the
EU some time ago, if that also saved them the time and money they spent
complying with ever-increasing levels of EU red tape. I even know some people
who feel so strongly about this that they voted for Brexit because of it.

~~~
blub
It seems to me that tech businesses really have an inflated sense of self-
importance and a deep aversion to anything which might impede them from
abusing people's (private) information.

~~~
Silhouette
It's unfortunate when people resort to stereotypes. It means the vast majority
of businesses that aren't doing something shady get penalised for the actions
of the relatively few that are.

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tannhaeuser
Good. She has upheld her stance on antitrust matters and demonstrated above-
average literacy with digital economy issues (for a politician). We should
prepare an agenda for her to look at during the forthcoming EU commission
legislature.

~~~
macmac
Although she failed miserably in her recommendation of the recent copyright
directive (CDSM). The final Article 17 is a catastrophe.

[https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL...](https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&from=EN#d1e822-92-1https://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&from=EN)

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rrtthu
Vestager as EU competition, Goulard as defense, Timmermans on climate. These
are the ingredients for a strong EU, and it's good news for the world.

~~~
weinzierl
But they are balanced out by von der Leyen who doesn't have the best record
from her previous duties...

~~~
IfOnlyYouKnew
Meh, she got a pretty thankless job, at an especially thankless moment, and
it's hard to judge without having a comparison.

And the decision we're applauding here was her's. So she does seem to be off
to a good start.

~~~
Toboe
> Meh, she got a pretty thankless job, at an especially thankless moment, and
> it's hard to judge without having a comparison.

Her time as minister of defense isn't everything she is being criticized for.
she earned the "Zensursula" moniker as minister of family.

>And the decision we're applauding here was her's. So she does seem to be off
to a good start.

Yeah, lets give her the chance to be a good surprise by keeping up stuff like
this decision.

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zubspace
Compared to the US tech sector, the European one is a completely different
beast. For me it seems more like a slow moving, risk-averse and regulated
behemoth, while the US tech industry likes to present itself as agile, risk-
seeking and (kind-of) unregulated.

All major companies from the US already gained a huge competitive advantage by
being first-movers and the resulting network effects, which are hard to
overcome. The incentive for an average European citizen to switch from
something like Google to Qwant is basically zero.

I understand the reasons for the EU to force taxes and regulations on tech
giants, but this alone will not help the EU to invent itself anew. We're stuck
behind and will be for a long time. You cannot change the culture through
taxes.

~~~
PeterStuer
Uncomfortable thruths: US tech rules because risk capital is extremely cheap
due to the petrodollar backed up by the planet's largest military force.

~~~
kazen44
this is very true.

Also, the US has a corporate structure which is brutal in terms of
competition. (and it has a less equal society as a result).

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lacker
I wish the EU was more focused on helping European tech companies become
successful, rather than preventing American tech companies from doing things.

~~~
JonAtkinson
It is the EU's job to do both, but neither is done to the exclusion of the
other. We are lucky to have such a privacy-focused federal body which can
bring about change effectively. I'm thrilled at the passing of GDPR, for
example.

~~~
blibble
the result of the GDPR was to increase Google's European ad market share[1]

and the massively increased compliance costs will ensure that no domestic
small competitor will ever be able to challenge their position

that's some effective change

[1]: [https://www.politico.eu/article/gdpr-facebook-google-
privacy...](https://www.politico.eu/article/gdpr-facebook-google-privacy-
data-6-months-in-europes-privacy-revolution-favors-google-facebook/)

~~~
TeMPOraL
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Innovation and healthy competition in
adtech space is a _problem_ ; the industry needs to die, not grow.

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bb822
... What?

~~~
cuban-frisbee
Mass surveillance for the the purpose of more targeted ads are bad for
society.

~~~
bb822
Cool.

The point was that his comment was a non-sequitor. The EU strengthening
Google's monopoly position will not make advertising go away.

~~~
TeMPOraL
No, but it will slow the innovation in that space, which I consider to be a
positive development. It's on-topic, because slowing innovation is why people
are complaining about Google's position being strengthened.

(Also, my perhaps naive hope is that the better the Google's market share
here, the more damage will be caused by EU regulating the space.)

