Under proposed EU laws, U.S. internet giants such as Apple (AAPL.O), Google, Facebook (FB.O), and Amazon (AMZN.O) should be governed by the EU country in which they are based, a top legislator said on Tuesday, rejecting demands by certain countries to widen the scope of the planned activities.
The place of origin principle is outlined in EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager’s draught legislation, dubbed the Digital Services Act, which demands US tech companies to do more to regulate the internet for unlawful and harmful content.
Because Apple, Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) unit Google, and Facebook have European headquarters in Ireland, the principle means that Ireland is responsible for regulating them, while Luxembourg is responsible for Amazon.
France and a few other countries want to widen the scope, fearing that concentrating enforcement in just two countries will weaken the rules and hinder decision-making. Christel Schaldemose, a lawmaker who is guiding the DSA through the European Parliament and has the authority to change or add to it, endorses the act’s main idea.
“It makes sense to keep the country of origin principle,” she told Reuters in an interview. Schaldemoe stated that she expects to finalize her draught with other legislators in the next two months so that she can work out a compromise with EU countries next year before the proposed laws take effect.
