From Politico Europe:
THE END OF TECH’S POLITICAL IMMUNITY …
Europe hasn’t been at the front lines of most of the digital revolution. Many leaders couldn’t or wouldn’t see the implications it would have on economies, identities and democracies. Impotence complemented the disinterest. Without a military-industrial complex and masses of venture capital to draw on, European entrepreneurs and governments have usually been out-gunned by Silicon Valley. But in one area, Europe has learned to fight back. Whether driven by jealously, terror and extremists or high ideals, Europe is a digital innovator when it comes to regulation, and that is starting to matter.
Vestager’s growing American fan club: European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager has never been a popular figure in Washington. But as America turns skeptical toward Silicon Valley, she suddenly fits the changing mood, explains Nicholas Hirst. When she arrives in the U.S. today, her first trip since hitting Google with a record €2.42 billion fine, she will find lawmakers who are open to once-taboo European ideas on antitrust.
The Economist wonders if Vestager’s “bloody-mindedness” is about championing consumers, or herself.
Regulators without borders: The borderless web is great for global expansion, but it also leaves tech giants vulnerable to Europe exporting online rules. That dynamic will be on full display in Washington this week when the EU Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sit down to haggle over small changes to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which regulates how companies must treat people’s data as it flows across the Atlantic, writes Mark Scott.
May to push internet giants to do more on terror: U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will make the issue a feature of her U.N. General Assembly appearances and discuss it with French President Emmanuel Macron.
EU countries pushing to tax tech companies: Ten EU finance ministers threw their weight behind a plan to tax the revenues of digital giants accused of paying minimal tax to their treasuries. The plan, proposed and heavily lobbied by France, would force major tech firms to start paying a tax on revenues in any country where they do business, instead of where they report it. Letter here, signed by France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Slovenia, Portugal, Bulgaria and Romania. The debate will continue in December.
Single IT system for EU customs union: “Having 28 different I.T. systems is not sustainable” in a single taxation area, said Estonia’s Finance Minister Toomas Tõniste after ministers met Friday. All data exchanged between customs authorities and businesses must be electronic from the beginning of 2021.
When popular products are no longer enough: An important read from BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith here, capturing how the political tide is going out for Silicon Valley. Bipartisan lobbies want to break up the biggest companies, which are being grouped together with oil and banking in terms of political perception. “These are the existential collisions with political power that can shake and redefine industries and their leaders.”
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