EU-US customs deal: the issue of data tolls is officially off the table

Success for major US platform operators such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Netflix: they no longer have to fear data tolls in the EU for the time being. "The European Union confirms that it will not introduce or maintain network user fees," the White House stated in a "fact sheet" on the political agreement between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on an agreement on tariffs and a trade partnership on Sunday. There is no objection to this from the EU side.

Other terms for network usage fees are infrastructure levy, fair share or transmitter pays. The EU Commission and the Council of Ministers have launched numerous initiatives in recent years to introduce a big-tech cost-sharing scheme for grid expansion. The project was recently considered to have failed due to strong opposition from many sides. However, the Commission has now made a new attempt. It now wants to make the data toll acceptable through the back door via the planned Digital Networks Act (DNA). A dispute resolution procedure for "IP interconnections", also known as peering, is intended to pave the way for this.

"The United States and the European Union intend to address unjustified digital barriers to trade," the handout from the US government headquarters continues. Although this focuses on network usage fees, the US side could interpret such blockades much more broadly. Specifically, the White House is certain that both blocks "will continue not to impose tariffs on electronic transmissions". This does not bode well for – the Commission's already limited – ideas of introducing a digital tax for large platform operators.

"Attack" on US tech companies

The EU Commission hastened to emphasize on Monday that the regulation of the technology sector is one of the areas in which it has not given an inch. Regulations such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the particularly threatened Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the AI Regulation would continue to be enforced. On Tuesday, a Commission spokesperson then conceded that the paragraph on digital regulations in the White House statement was correct. At the same time, he assured: "But this does not affect our rules or our regulatory scope". The EU would not give up its "right to autonomous regulation in the digital space".

During the customs negotiations, representatives of the Trump administration repeatedly criticized the EU's comparatively strict digital laws, on the basis of which US tech companies in particular are sometimes threatened with severe sanctions. US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told CNBC on Tuesday that some horse-trading with the EU is still pending. "Can I expect to continue to talk to the European Commission trade representatives? Yes, they called me this morning," he reported. "Digital services, taxes and the attack on our tech companies – that will be on the table."

MEPs should intervene

MEP Brando Benifei, who helped negotiate the AI Act, is concerned by this rhetoric. The Social Democrat also fears that the Commission's stance sends "the wrong signal": "If we buckle under pressure, what's to stop Trump from attacking our legislation next?"

Max Bank, trade policy expert at the civil society organization LobbyControl, also complains that Washington wants to enforce far-reaching exceptions to EU rules, for example in the digital sector. "This deal is TTIP [Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] through the back door," he complains, referring to the years of ultimately failed transatlantic talks on a comprehensive trade agreement. This time, the consensus was simply sealed "with a handshake on the golf course". LobbyControl is calling for thorough parliamentary scrutiny – in the member states too. If the US interpretation is confirmed, the representatives of the people would have to stop the deal: "Otherwise there is a risk of a creeping erosion of our laws – and thus of our democracy."

(mma)