Law.com International: The Brussels Effect vs. the Trump Effect: Is the EU’s Future as a Norm Shaper Over?

European Commission (EU) President Ursula von der Leyen announced her 2025 policy plans to “lighten the regulatory load” due to concerns over competitiveness. There is a possibility of retaliation from the US in response to longstanding EU antitrust rules and newer digital regulations, but EU officials have denied that their new plans result from a fear of US retaliation. Ian Simmons, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, said the EU’s leadership should start to consider how much leverage it really has. The US administration “will be taking it out on the European Union if they continue to pursue what I think the Trump administration views as top-down, statist, high-tech outcomes like the Digital Markets,” Simmons said. They will view “the American high-tech firms as a national asset that, if foreign sovereigns abuse, like Brussels and Beijing, there will be consequences.”

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