On Tuesday, the European Parliament presented the statutory review of the Digital Markets Act. So, naturally, I went to Strasbourg to tell politicians that as DMA has only really been in force for two years, it’s probably too early to make any amendments. And while it’s been quite successful so far, we really need the Commission to enforce it more vigorously. (Many MEPs agree; last week, the European Parliament’s Internal Market (IMCO) committee called for the “full and proactive use” of all the Digital Market Act tools, and encourage the EU to resist external political pressure.)
As an independent European browser, Vivaldi needs access to platform controlled by vendors of competing browsers. It’s ridiculous that Apple is still able to impose impossible conditions on anyone who wishes to use their preferred browser engines on i(Pad)OS, and that Microsoft is still able to self-preference its own Edge browser on Windows.
If Europe is to achieve real digital sovereignty, the EU needs to monitor compliance -not just believe the Gatekeepers marking their own homework- and have the courage to impose real sanctions against Big Tech’s attempts to smother European compeititors.
I arrived the evening before my meeting, so had a while to look around Strasbourg, which was pretty.
And while Strazzy is (currently) in France, it has a heartily Germanic side to its cuisine. My dinner comprised most of a pig cooked in beer, and about a kilo of roasted potatoes (plus a salad and some bread):
The European Parliament was cool, and it made me sad that the UK is no longer included. Whatever the British Right may think of the European Project, Europe hasn’t forgotten the contribution that Britain made to ensuring a democratic Europe.
Let’s hope Europe is courageous against modern fascists and their industrialist friends as it was 80 years ago.