Ahead of planned Franco-German government consultations, Nobel laureate in Economics Jean Tirole has urged Europe to pursue robust reforms and a firm stance in ongoing trade disputes with the United States. In an interview, Tirole emphasized the need for a proactive defense of European values and a strengthening of the continent’s resilience.
Tirole drew parallels to the post-war era of the 1950s, recalling a prevailing optimism and a belief in the benefits of peaceful cooperation and economic growth. He contrasted this with what he described as a current tendency towards zero-sum thinking, wherein political leaders within the European Union appear focused on shifting resources from one member state to another for domestic political gain. He cautioned that failure to address these issues through decisive governance could have detrimental consequences.
Regarding the trade conflict with the United States, Tirole underscored the dangers of yielding to recent demands from Washington for the EU to suspend implementation of its Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA). He warned that acquiescence to external pressure on regulatory policy could ultimately compromise European sovereignty, potentially extending to areas such as social welfare systems. Tirole argued that Europe must retain control over its own regulatory approach to matters like content moderation and online platform governance, regardless of differing perspectives on specific issues, asserting that these are matters of internal European concern.
Furthermore, Tirole advocated for measures to address potential misuse of data collected by companies like Palantir, suggesting mechanisms like data expiration dates to prevent authoritarian regimes from utilizing this information for repressive purposes.