BRUSSELS: EU leaders will on Thursday back plans to impose unprecedented rules against big tech, promising to make Europe a global rule-maker against the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon.
The leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels are setting the groundwork for an EU "Digital Services Act", a massive legal proposal expected in December that will overhaul the regulation of internet platforms.
In prepared draft conclusions from the two-day summit, seen by AFP, the leaders stress that "to be digitally sovereign" the EU must "reinforce its ability to define its own rules, to make autonomous technological choices."
The leaders will commit that "at the international level, the EU will leverage its tools and regulatory powers to help shape global rules and standards."
At the heart of the proposals, currently in preparation for December by the European Commission, will be the notion that US tech giants have become internet "gatekeepers" that must be given specific rules and undergo stricter oversight.
"Perhaps these platforms have become too big to care," said Thierry Breton this week, an EU commissioner who will be closely involved in the proposal.
"That's something that we must deal with, just as we did with banks. We're going to have to acquire the necessary regulatory tools to control those players," he told MEPs.
The long-trailed plans have sparked a lobbying frenzy in Brussels, with big tech eager to dampen the resolve of European regulators to limit their reach. According to EU documents seen by AFP, Google's search engine, Amazon's shopping platform and the Apple app store could potentially fall under the new "gatekeeper" designation.
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