Henna Virkkunen, Vice-President of the European Commission, is slated to spearhead a dialogue aimed at drawing the United States into discussions concerning the EU’s digital enforcement against American corporations. This plan was reported by the “Handelsblatt”, citing several high-ranking EU officials.
Virkkunen is currently responsible within the European Commission for matters relating to technical sovereignty, security, and democracy. A senior EU official told the “Handelsblatt” that an agreement had been reached for Virkkunen to lead these talks. The Finnish commissioner has the full backing of the President of the Commission and Commissioners Teresa Ribera and Maros Sefcovic, who had also been considered for the role.
While a spokesperson for the European Commission declined to provide specifics regarding this personnel decision, he did affirm that the Commission has always been open to strengthening global digital collaboration with partners worldwide, including the USA.
From the Commission’s perspective, the primary focus of this dialogue will be on key regulatory topics such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), chips, and cybersecurity. According to information received by the “Handelsblatt”, the US is set to be involved in the body not only regarding the implementation of EU digital regulations but also in antitrust proceedings targeting US tech conglomerates. The EU maintains a considerable degree of discretion concerning which procedures it initiates, how quickly it brings them to a conclusion, and the scale of penalties imposed. For instance, the European Commission recently delayed imposing a fine on the US corporation Google.
