Europe

The focus of the guidelines is to help assess whether a merger would significantly impede effective competition or create or strengthen a dominant position. Unfortunately, this structural understanding of competition differs from a conception of competition as either a dynamic process or a consumer welfare proscription, both of which are far better suited to having a productive and growing economy.

EU regulatory regimes discriminate against leading U.S. tech firms, chill innovation and the liberties that underlie a culture of freedom, encourage copycat regulations around the world, and undermine the West’s competitiveness against China.

France has embarked on an ambitious program to build at least six new large nuclear reactors, applying lessons from recent overruns and delays. While success is far from guaranteed, there are important lessons for the United States as it seeks to jump-start its own nuclear sector through recent ambitious executive orders.

As of 2025, the goods trade deficit between the European Union and China has doubled since 2020, while it is 3.6 times greater in Germany. One driver of this imbalance may be Chinese currency manipulation, which has allowed Chinese firms to undercut the prices of European retailers.

Canada should approach exploratory talks regarding a Canada–EU digital trade agreement with caution. Greater alignment with the EU may appear to provide a hedge against U.S. influence, but in practice it risks importing a framework that impedes the potential for Canada’s digital economy and industries while raising compliance costs.

Europe’s pursuit of digital sovereignty rests on a flawed premise: that competing with the United States, rather than China, should be the central priority. To advance this goal, Brussels has embraced the so-called “Airbus model”—the belief that the government-led coordination that created an aerospace champion can be replicated to achieve dominance in semiconductors, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI). The idea is seductive and gaining traction, but the analogy is unproven and misguided.

The EU’s €376 million fine against Intel for decades-old conduct risks weakening a struggling Western chipmaker at a time when China is heavily investing to dominate the semiconductor industry.

ITIF disagrees with the Competition and Markets Authority's provisional findings that Google's mobile platform has Strategic Market Status and that there are high barriers to entry and expansion.

The European Commission’s DMA action against Meta reveals a strategy of using data protection law principles to stretch competition rules beyond their intended scope—ultimately setting a compliance bar no gatekeeper can meet, infantilizing users, and selectively targeting successful integrated American platforms.

Space safety is an important and shared interest of governments, private industry, and consumers around the world. But a regulatory framework for it should be evidence-based and even-handed. If the EUSA proceeds, we can expect the same proliferation of copycat space regulations through the Brussels effect.