Die EU weist ab, die Maßnahmen gegen Apple und andere vorbehaltlos anzuwenden, bis der neue US-Präsident in Amt steht.

The European Union has rejected a report that claims it would have halted the proceedings against Apple and other American tech giants due to expected pressure from the incoming US president.

The report asserts that the EU "needs to be re-examined," antitrust investigations of Apple, Meta, and Google, and that all decisions and fines will be put on hold until this process is completed...

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, is reportedly scheduled to call the incoming president on Friday to complain about unfair competition and data protection violations against them.

The Financial Times cites unnamed EU sources for its report.

Brussels is revising its investigations into technology companies like Apple, Meta, and Google, while American companies are urging President-elect Donald Trump to intervene in what they view as overly strict EU regulations.

All decisions and potential fines will be on hold during the review, but work on the cases will continue, according to officials.

A source is described as a "high-ranking EU official" who said political pressures create much uncertainty about the continuation of the investigations.

Apple is one of the companies already affected by the EU action that requires it to allow third-party app stores and is now under pressure to grant other companies access to features currently available only for Apple devices.

This includes the fast-pairing system reserved for AirPods, which other companies are using to gain access to this system for their own headsets and other Bluetooth devices. Meta is seeking access for its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses.

The EU rejected the report by saying that "no such review will take place" and instead holding routine meetings to evaluate the progress of its ongoing investigations.

The EU seems to be bowing under US political pressure.

However, the idea of a review is entirely plausible. Both Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton have resigned from the Commission that transmitted the proposal policy for the European Parliament. Both were known as hardliners in competition law, so a government camera shake could lead to a re-evaluation of current investigations and future plans.

The most likely reality is that a review began immediately after Vestager's resignation, without any connection to the change in the American administration.

Photo: Apple