A large majority of the French, German and Spanish public are in favour of the EU taking a tough stance on Big Tech, despite the risks to relations with the Trump administration. There is also support for splitting up Google.
According to a new survey by pollster YouGov, around two-thirds of people in France, Germany and Spain believe that Europe should enforce its laws on big tech companies, even if it damages relations with Trump. Only 13-14% are of the opposite opinion. In Germany, the implementation of digital laws is supported by 74% of CDU/CSU voters, the party of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The survey was commissioned by the organizations People vs. Big Tech and WeMove Europe.
Many citizens expect the EU to take stronger action against big tech companies: 47% of respondents in Germany believe that European enforcement of laws dealing with the influence and power of big tech companies is too lax. In comparison, only 6% believe that they are too strict. The picture is similar in France and Spain (France 42% to 5%, Spain 38% to 7%). The results come at a time when tensions between the EU and the US are boiling over ahead of Trump’s “tariff day” on July 9, and European tech laws are in the crosshairs.
Debate on the Digital Markets Act
Recently, a media report caused a stir that the European Commission is considering exempting US big tech companies from its groundbreaking set of rules for digital competition – the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – in order to appease President Trump and avoid tariffs. Officials in Brussels had previously denied that the enforcement of the DMA was up for discussion, but have not recently repeated this denial. There has also been strong criticism of this possible softening from the Startup Association, which is in favour of the DMA as an instrument against power imbalances in the digital economy.
Support for breaking up Google
The YouGov survey also showed that the public in the three countries is in favour of the EU introducing structural remedies. Around twice as many respondents were in favor of the EU breaking up Big Tech companies than those who believe the EU should not do so [3]. The Commission is expected to announce the results of its antitrust investigation into Google’s advertising monopoly shortly. It had already provisionally found in 2023 that Google was abusing its market power in the placement of online advertising. Structural measures such as the sale of parts of Google’s advertising business are needed to stop the abuse of power.
The call for the Commission to break up Google was supported by 18 former European heads of state, Nobel Prize winner Daron Acemoglu and over 115,000 European citizens in two petitions by WeMove Europe, LobbyControl and Rebalance Now.
Further results of the survey and the detailed data can be found on the People vs. BigTech.
Sign our “Break up Google” petition on WeAct now
