By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) – European leaders are divided over how far to go to rein in Big Tech, as they weigh momentous decisions about giving EU companies preferential access to mobile satellite spectrum and limiting big multinationals’ access to EU cloud tenders.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Brussels was likely to leave an opening for Elon Musk’s Starlink and Leo, Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite business, to acquire lucrative European mobile satellite spectrum next year as a result of a compromise that will reserve most frequencies for European companies.
A separate decision on EU cloud tenders scheduled for June 3 is expected to moderate the influence of US companies such as Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft, which dominate the global cloud market with a combined 63% share.
Both potential moves reflect Europe’s efforts to strengthen the bloc’s technological sovereignty by promoting EU tech players, driven by concerns about China’s technological rise and the dominance of American tech giants at a time of uncertain transatlantic ties.
However, European capitals are divided over the difficulty and speed of moving. Some officials advocate acting aggressively to build European capacity, while others are concerned about “a possible reaction from Washington and Europe’s ability to close the gaps.”
Among those pushing for a stronger “buy European” stance are EU industry chief Stéphane Sejourne, who wants a bigger role for European companies, and EU defense chief Andrius Kubilius, who believes military and defense needs require preferences for European players, according to two people familiar with the debate.
Meanwhile, Finnish EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen argues that Europe should impose clear rules on all companies rather than excluding non-European ones. Sources said Virkkunen’s approach would likely prevail given that she was directly responsible for the issues now being discussed.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Sejourne, Kubilius and Virkkunen.
AN INVESTMENT GAP OF EUR 1 TRILLION AGAINST THE US
Concerns that sensitive European information is vulnerable to bad actors and that the region is lagging behind the United States and China in digital services is shaping the EU’s Cloud and AI Development Act, which will be unveiled on June 3 after repeated delays caused by infighting.
“The current geopolitical landscape has demonstrated our structural vulnerabilities by being simply ‘isolated’ from very essential infrastructure,” said Alba Ribera MartÃnez, editor in chief of the Stanford Computational Antitrust project, which brings together antitrust agencies and academics.