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PLENARY: Two years into von der Leyen 2.0’s Commission: Are the EU’s digital rules surviving or thriving?

Two years into Ursula von der Leyen’s second Commission, technology is playing an unprecedented geopolitical role, after US Big Tech aligned itself with the Trump administration – which has openly threatened the EU with retaliatory tariffs and sanctions if the bloc enforces its digital rulebook on US tech. As a taster, Trump slapped travel restrictions on a former EU tech commissioner (Thierry Breton) early in 2026. High profile American tech CEOs have joined in with attacks on the bloc, with the likes of X owner Elon Musk openly insulting EU regulations and institutions.

At the same time, the von der Leyen Commission has been preoccupied with how to boost competitiveness and productivity – eyeing chasing the AI boom. The Commission’s Digital Omnibus package has seen the EU move to relax long-standing privacy standards and delay AI rules under a simplification drive that's geared towards accelerating AI development, yet some of the revisions have attracted accusations of yielding to a US Big Tech agenda.

Against this backdrop, Euractiv's Tech Policy Conference will dive into a shifting landscape for EU policymaking and enforcement, examining the mix of tensions driving lawmakers and assessing how changing power dynamics are impacting our digital rule of law.

Panels to be announced soon.