European Union Denies Postponing Fines For Apple Due To Pressure From Trump

The European Union strongly denies allegations that it is delaying fines on major tech companies such as Apple and Meta for fear of getting a reply from former US President Donald Trump. This denial comes following reports circulating since January 2025, which states that the European Commission is deliberately holding back important decisions because it wants to first see the impact of Trump's return to the political stage.

Several reports even said that the announcement of the fine against Apple was scheduled, but was canceled at the last minute to avoid tensions when officials from various EU member countries were holding trade meetings with Trump to discuss import rates.

However, the European Commission now insists that it will continue to enforce the Digital Markets Act (DMA) against any company that violates, regardless of the origin of the country or who its political leaders are.

"The rules that have been approved by lawmakers must be enforced," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a written answer to questions surrounding the EU policy direction. "That's why we've opened up cases against TikTok, X, Apple, Meta only to mention a few."

He added that the European Union applies the law fairly and unbiasedly, and does not care where a company comes from. "We care to protect society," wrote von der Leyen.

Even so, another report emerged stating that the European Union would reduce the amount of fines imposed on large technology companies. Based on DMA, the Commission can provide fines of up to 10% of the company's total annual global income, which means it could reach billions of dollars for companies like Apple.

However, according to the latest report, the fines imposed will likely be much smaller than the maximum potential. This raises speculation that the US-EU trade pressure related to tariffs, as well as leadership changes in the European Commission, also affects the current policy direction.

New leaders in the European Commission are said to be more focused on implementing technical measures against DMA regulations, rather than putting pressure on companies with large fines.

Although Ursula von der Leyen insists that the rules will be enforced, she does not give an exact date when the fine will be announced or how much. This adds to uncertainty against EU's commitment to cracking down on tech giants who are considered to abuse their dominance in the market.

The European Union is one of the world's first jurisdictions to set strict regulations against Big Tech, while other countries are still in the discussion stage.

However, the statement that the European Union does not side with the company's origin has raised questions. Historically, the EU is often considered to side with European companies such as Spotify in its rivalry with Apple Music. Although Spotify has more than doubled subscribers to Apple Music, the EU still imposes fines on Apple for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the iOS ecosystem.

With various political, economic and diplomatic pressures enveloping this process, the world is now awaiting concrete steps from the European Commission on whether they will actually enforce strict rules, or choose to compromise in order to maintain trade relations with the United States in the Trump era.