Back to the Brussels bubble to advocate for bold competition policy enforcement. #mergerguidelines #breakupgoogle #googleadtech

The @EUCommission announced it is exploring a new EU-US “dialogue” on digital rules, as Washington piles on the pressure over how the EU enforces its tech laws.

“If confirmed, this is nothing short of complete capitulation to the #Trump admin’s coercive tactics,” said #Greens MEP @SLagodinsky […]

Clear and important words by Commissioner @teresaribera.ec.europa.eu at the ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting in Washington: "Allowing political intrusion into competition enforcement could backfire with unknown consequences. This is about democracy, credibility and reliability." We count on this!

We welcome today’s tightening of german competition law as part of the fuel policy package. The critical reactions from business associations such as the Federation of the German Industry (BDI) are pure scaremongering.

Johnny Ryan: Big Tech, Privacy & Data Power | GDPR Enforcement Failure | Europe’s Real Bottleneck YouTube video by Digital Markets Research Hub

My conversation (long) with Oles Andriychuk on Tech, Competition, Privacy, Power is now live
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIkc...

Today, EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera meets Big Tech CEOs in Silicon Valley: Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai. Time to remind the tech oligarchs the EU will remain steadfast in enforcing competition rules, from the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to ongoing cases like Google/Adtech.

🚨 Rising gasoline prices are the result of significant market concentration in Germany, which allows oil companies to skim off substantial profits at the expense of consumers. Urgent action is needed to counteract the industry’s dominant position and its excessive profits. Our statement (german):

Soon, the #DMA non-compliance investigation against Google will turn 2 years old. A decision is nowhere in sight. Together with 17 other associations, we've signed an open letter with a simple demand: enforce the DMA against Google's self-preferencing in search. rebalance-now.de/wp-content/u...

US funding for global internet freedom ‘effectively gutted’ Programme that funds groups building tech to evade oppressive government controls under serious threat

US funding for global internet freedom ‘effectively gutted’ - Programme that funds groups building tech to evade oppressive government controls under serious threat.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Bonn Against Amazon: A remarkable initiative by the Federal Cartel Office - Rebalance Now Amazon’s market power is huge. In e-commerce, the company accounts for 60 percent of online sales in Germany. The Federal Cartel Office is taking action against the abuse of that power. An important, ...

Bonn Against Amazon: Our background piece on a remarkable initiative by the german Federal Cartel Office.
rebalance-now.de/en/bonn-agai...
#Amazon #Bundeskartellamt #19a #GWB #BigTech

The EU’s clearance of Google/Wiz: the wrong decision - Rebalance Now Civil society organisations across Europe seriously regret the European Commission’s decision to unconditionally clear Google’s proposed acquisition of Wiz. The decision runs counter to lessons drawn ...

The EU’s unconditional clearance of Google/Wiz is a mistake. Civil society statement by @balancedeconomy.bsky.social, @openmarkets.bsky.social, @somoamsterdam.bsky.social and @rebalance-now.bsky.social. rebalance-now.de/en/the-eus-c...

An important step by DG Competition for open competition in AI assistants & agents. Meta is doing what dominant firms do: closing off markets. If you want to use AI on WhatsApp, you must use Meta’s AI — or none at all. That’s not fair competition. The Commission’s action is thus very welcome.

Digital Merger Watch: Current trends in big tech mergers - Rebalance Now We are part of the Digital Merger Watch (DMW) project. In this project, we track Big Tech's mergers and acquisitions. Our latest update.

We're part of the Digital Merger Watch (DMW). Here's an update of the DMW Big Tech M&A tracker:
▶️Big Tech acquisitions increased by 30% in 2025
▶️15 Big Tech acquisitions were AI-related
▶️ 2025 saw a rise in Big Tech’s talent acquisition & licensing deals.
More here:
rebalance-now.de/en/digital-m...

Bundeskartellamt prohibits Amazon from applying price control mechanisms & imposes a 59 Mio. € fine. The prohibition of price control mechanisms is an important step forward, the fine is rather symbolic. Further action is needed, as the conflict of interest in Amazon's business model remains there.

Addicted to the algorithm: how Big Tech lobbies to keep us hooked on social media | Corporate Europe Observatory As the EU prepares the Digital Fairness Act to tackle the addictive nature of social media design, big tech aggressively protects its business models. With Trumpists and far-right allies likely to joi...

Addicted to the algorithm: how Big Tech lobbies to keep us hooked on social media. Important new @corporateeurope.org report: corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/a...

Our submission on the Risks of Google’s Acquisition of Wiz - Rebalance Now Google intends to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion. This would be the largest acquisition in Google’s history and another step toward strengthening Google’s market power. Together wi...

According to MLex, Google's acquisition of Wiz may gain approval by the European Commission soon. This would be the largest acquisition in Google’s history and another step toward strengthening Google’s market power. Here is why this merger should not be cleared: rebalance-now.de/en/our-submi...

Merger Control: Revisions to the EU Guidelines - Rebalance Now The European Commission’s competition authority, DG Competition, is currently revising its merger guidelines. We are closely monitoring this process and are advocating for a strengthening of the guide...

DG Competition is currently revising its merger guidelines. We are advocating for a strengthening of the guidelines in order to prevent further anti-competitive mergers and the resulting harms to our societies. See more on our work on the guidelines here: rebalance-now.de/en/merger-co...

Our submission on the Risks of Google’s Acquisition of Wiz - Rebalance Now Google intends to acquire the cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion. This would be the largest acquisition in Google’s history and another step toward strengthening Google’s market power. Together wi...

The Google/Wiz merger needs further scrutiny and should not be cleared. Our joint submission to the EU's competition authority with @openmarkets.bsky.social, @balancedeconomy.bsky.social, @somoamsterdam.bsky.social & @article19europe.bsky.social: rebalance-now.de/en/our-submi...

Online Behavioral Ads Fuel the Surveillance Industry—Here’s How Each time you see a targeted ad, your personal information is exposed to thousands of advertisers and data brokers through a process called “real-time bidding” (RTB). This process does more than

Real-time bidding, which powers nearly every ad you see online, might be the most privacy-invasive surveillance system that you’ve never heard of. Learn how it works and how to protect yourself. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Die Stellungnahme der EU-Kommission zu den Trumps Anti-DSA-Sanktionen lenkt vom zentralen Punkt ab: Seit Monaten setzt die EU-Kommission das EU-Digitalrecht nur mutlos um. Die Strafhöhen sind zu niedrig, die Verfahren zu langsam, Sanktionen ja werden nicht verhängt. Das muss sich jetzt ändern!

"HateAid" - USA verhängen Sanktionen gegen deutsche Aktivistinnen - Vorwurf der Zensur Die US-Regierung hat zwei deutsche Aktivistinnen gegen Online-Hassrede mit Einreiseverboten belegt. Betroffen sind die Geschäftsführerinnen der gemeinnützigen Berliner Organisation "HateAid", Anna-Len...

I stand with #HateAid. #breakupbigtech #DMA #DSA
www.deutschlandfunk.de/usa-verhaeng...

This is Europe's secret weapon against Trump: it could burst his AI bubble | Johnny Ryan Growth in the US economy – and the president’s political survival – rest on AI. The EU must use its leverage and stand up to him, says the Irish Council for Civil Liberties’ Johnny Ryan

My message to Ursula von der Leyen in The Guardian this morning:
America’s bet on AI is now so gigantic that every MAGA voter’s pension is bound to the bubble’s precarious survival. If she grabs Trump where it hurts, Europe will win this fight.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Japan App Store Gets Alternative Marketplaces, Third-Party Payments and More Apple today introduced several changes to the App Store in Japan to meet the requirements of the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) that goes into effect on December 18. The MSCA is similar to Eur...

Japan App Store Gets Alternative Marketplaces, Third-Party Payments and More www.macrumors.com/2025/12/17/j...

Hold or fold? The Google adtech case will test Europe’s resolve Donald Trump's new national security strategy casts overseas regulation as an attack on US interests and identifies preserving Big Tech dominance as a national security priority. It leaves no doubt ab...

Why the EU’s Google AdTech Case Is a Test of Democratic Resolve. Opinion piece by @maxvonthun.bsky.social and me in the @euobserver.com. euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

Temu's Dublin office raided by EU regulators on Chinese subsidy concerns Temu's European headquarters in Dublin were raided by EU regulators last week on concerns about potential Chinese state subsidies granted to the online retailer, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce gian...

The recent raid on Temu’s European headquarters in Dublin under the EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation is a significant moment for fair competition and democratic market governance in Europe. It shows the European Commission's willingness to act & to enforce its rules.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Open letter on Google adtech case to von der Leyen and Ribera - Rebalance Now Over 70 NGOs, businesses, experts, and think tanks have called on the European Commission to rejects Google’s offered remedies in the adtech antitrust case.

Alongside over 70 press freedom groups, NGOs, businesses, experts and think tanks, we are urging @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu and @teresaribera.ec.europa.eu to reject the remedies offered by #Google in the #adtech antitrust case. rebalance-now.de/en/open-lett...

Word! We count on you, @teresaribera.ec.europa.eu!

Expert event in Brussels: Tightening the EU’s Merger Guidelines - Rebalance Now The EU is revising its merger guidelines. In the European Parliament, we argue for stronger rules to curb rising market concentration.

The EU’s merger guidelines are currently under revision. We have already contributed to the public consultation. On 19 November 2025, we initiated a cross-party exchange in the European Parliament on the ongoing revision. Here is a short recap on what happened.
rebalance-now.de/en/expert-ev...

It was great to discuss the review of the EU's merger guidelines yesterday in the European Parliament. The review is a great chance to strengthen merger control. This is urgently needed to push back corporate concentration in Europe.