Policy and advocacy lead Giorgos Verdi argues that the EU’s Tech Sovereignty Package is a promising step toward reducing Europe’s dependence on U.S. technology firms, but warned it will fall short unless Europe also confronts the market concentration that allows Big Tech to dominate AI, cloud, chips, and digital infrastructure.
Max von Thun and Claire Lavin argue that merger guideline progress is undermined by the introduction of a bias for scale and efficiency loopholes, which give large corporations more paths to complete a merger.
Open Markets Europe policy analyst George Colville published a piece condemning an aggressive lobbying strategy mounted by Google and Apple to reframe interoperability mandated by the EU’s Digital Markets Act as threats to user privacy and security.
Open Markets' Europe director, Max von Thun, writes in The Guardian that European Commission’s digital sovereignty plans showcase a disappointing lack of vision.
Open Markets' Europe director, Max von Thun, and industrial policy program manager, AudreyStienon, discuss in Competition Policy International's TechREG Chronicle how AI policy narratives framed around the goal of "winning" a global race threaten to undermine the democratic values that this technology is supposed to help defend. Instead, von Thun and Stienon present a vision for an industrial strategy for AI centered on democratic governance as a means of protecting the public interest.
Open Markets Europe director Max von Thun argued in this co-written article that Europe has an opportunity to counter concentrated tech power and assert global economic leadership by aligning digital markets with democratic values and deeper economic integration
Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan emphasizes that Europe doesn’t need to copy America’s model to be competitive; it should double down on strong competition policy to avoid the economic imbalances and harms baked into the US approach.
Europe research fellow Claire Lavin co-wrote an article arguing that Google’s proposed $32 billion acquisition of Wiz would dangerously concentrate control over Europe’s cloud security infrastructure in the hands of a U.S. tech gatekeeper, threatening competition, data governance, and digital sovereignty—and must be rigorously investigated and potentially blocked by EU regulators.
Europe director Max von Thun argues that Europe’s response to Trump-era pressure on digital regulation must combine tough enforcement against Big Tech with major investment in homegrown technology, warning that efforts to weaken landmark laws like the AI Act and GDPR threaten European sovereignty and democratic security.
Industrial Policy Program Manager Audrey Stienon writes that Europe’s landmark Green Deal is being weakened under pressure from Trump’s tariff threats and rising far-right influence, jeopardizing the EU’s climate ambitions and democratic sovereignty.
