Making Enforcement Negotiable? The Digital Markets Act under US Pressure

However, a new IAI publication by Anselm Küsters, Head of the Digitalisation and AI Division at cep, highlights a problematic trend. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the Commission’s overall DMA activity has increased, but the number of formal enforcement decisions has fallen significantly.

Is the application of the DMA becoming politically negotiable under US pressure? For Küsters, this would set a dangerous precedent. The Commission is obliged to enforce EU law independently and in the general interest of the Union. If it were to water down or delay ongoing DMA proceedings out of deference to possible US trade reactions, this would undermine the credibility of European digital regulation. 

The future enforcement of the AI Act could also lose authority if the impression were to arise that European digital rules are yielding to geopolitical pressure. Küsters therefore advocates for institutionally independent oversight, for example through a unified, cross-silo European Digital Markets Authority.

In line with these issues, Anselm Küsters will participate in the IAI event “Navigating Geoeconomic Turbulences: Financial and Economic Cleavages of a Seething Global Order” on 16 June 2026. The event will focus precisely on those geo-economic tensions that are also becoming increasingly decisive for European digital regulation.