The European Union wants to have an antenna in San Francisco to be closer to the giants of Silicon Valley, and this, while new European legislation to better regulate the Gafam has just been adopted in Brussels…
Between the European Union and the Gafam, relations have been strained for many years. While Brussels has just taken a decisive step to regulate these technological groups, with the adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the European executive also wants to be as close as possible to the giants of Silicon Valley.
In this context, the European Union plans to open an office in San Francisco, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Politico. This antenna on the west coast of the United States would be supervised by the European delegation based in Washington, which depends on the foreign affairs branch of the EU. The opening date for this California office has not yet been decided, but an EU official has confirmed to Politico recruitment of staff was underway.
According to the American media, Gerard de Graaf, director in charge of the digital economy at DG Connect, an entity responsible for developing the European Union’s digital policy, is well placed to lead this office in San Francisco. With this base in the Golden State, the EU would follow in the footsteps of Denmark, which moved to the region in 2017. But the Danish official who was sent to California eventually left for Microsoft in 2020 to take charge. the European governmental affairs of the American giant…
Members of the European Parliament visit Silicon Valley in May
While waiting for the opening of the EU office in San Francisco, members of the European Parliament will visit Silicon Valley during the week of May 23, according to Politico. During this trip, visits to the headquarters of Meta (Facebook) and Google, and to universities such as Stanford, are planned. This diplomatic visit will be coordinated by Andreas Schwab, European Parliament rapporteur for the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This German politician was noticed in 2014, by defending a resolution in Brussels to dismantle the technological giants if the European Commission did not progress in its antitrust investigation concerning Google.
Having become more and more powerful, the American digital giants ended up irritating the EU, which launched several investigations against them and prepared new legislation to better regulate them. Faced with the distrust of European authorities, Google, Amazon and others have responded by conducting an intense lobbying campaign with European authorities. Last year, the Corporate Europe Observatory research center and the NGO LobbyControl published a report which indicates that 1,452 lobbyists have spent 97 million euros every year since 2019 in an attempt to influence decision-makers in Brussels for the benefit of big business. technology groups. It’s the turn of the EU to do some lobbying to calm the ardor of Gafam with an office in San Francisco…