Is EU Regulation Killing Its Own Tech Future? | Budapest Global Dialogue

Brussels v. Silicon Valley: Navigating the Innovation-Regulation Divide

The EU faces a perplexing contradiction: it has emerged as the preeminent global regulator of modern technologies and the norms and ethics around their usage, and yet, none of the major global tech giants originates from Europe. Almost all the major tech giants are American multinational corporations. This feature of the transatlantic relationship puts the interests of Silicon Valley’s tech companies at loggerheads with the EU’s regulators, with the former desiring to be as lightly regulated as possible. Additionally, the complete absence of a competitive tech industry in Europe further adds to the asymmetry in the U.S.-EU relationship. This roundtable will explore the challenges the EU faces in navigating this paradox, how the competing interests of Silicon Valley and Brussels can further derail the transatlantic relationship, and the reforms European nations need to undertake to build their competitive tech sector.
Considering the significant representation of the U.S. tech industry within the Trump administration, how will the EU’s future efforts to regulate American Big Tech impact the transatlantic ties?
Going ahead, can the EU’s institutions, such as the European Commission (EC) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ), shift towards more light-touch regulations, minimising transatlantic frictions?
How can European economies correct this tech asymmetry with the U.S. and incentivise the emergence of their own Silicon Valley?
Szabolcs Szolnoki, Deputy State Secretary for Technology, Ministry for National Economy, Hungary

Speakers:
Maggie Sprenger, Cofounder and General Partner, Audere Capital, United States
Paul Walf, Chief Executive Officer, Rheinmetall, Hungary
Zsigmond Perényi, Former Secretary of State, Hungary
István Sárhegyi, Chief Executive Officer, 4iG Space & Defence; Group Deputy CEO, 4iG, Hungary

Moderator: Laura Mahrenbach, Adjunct Professor, Technical University of Munich, Germany

#internationalrelations #geopolitics #technology

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