Week Ahead (9 June)

Tuesday, 10 June – Public consultation on possible responses to US tariffs closes

On 8 May, the European Commission published a provisional list of US goods that would face tariffs should ongoing trade negotiations with Washington collapse. The list is part of the EU's next wave of countermeasures in response to Trump's imposition of reciprocal tariffs and also includes export restrictions. 

As a reminder, in retaliation to Trump’s earlier tariffs, the EU announced on 9 April its own counter-tariffs of 25% on €21–€22 billion in US goods, including politically symbolic products such as motorcycles, orange juice, chewing gum, and cereals, many of them tied to Republican-leaning states, before eventually announcing its own 90-day suspension. 

This latest round of potential retaliatory measures are subject to a one-month consultation period with national governments and industry stakeholders, which ends tomorrow. It is worth noting that in prior consultations, such as the EU’s initial response to the US steel and aluminum tariffs, the final list was watered down due to political sensitivities. In that case, for instance, bourbon whiskey was removed at the request of France, Italy, and Ireland due to its symbolic importance, ultimately leading to a relatively modest tariff list hitting around €21–€22 billion in US goods. 

The EU hopes this new tariff list will serve as both a warning and an incentive for Washington to return to the table with concrete proposals. However, Brussels expects most of Trump’s tariffs to remain in place. Looking ahead, if negotiations fail to produce progress by the 8 July deadline, when the 90-day pause expires, the EU will likely move ahead with the full second phase of tariffs. However, as flagged previously, there is also a more aggressive potential next phase under internal discussion. In extremis, this would target additional sectors, including digital services and tech, through tools like the Digital Services Tax (DST) and the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI).   In any case, stakeholders will have 12:00 Brussels time tomorrow to voice their perspectives. 

 

Tuesday, 10 June – EU deadline to rule on SES-Intelsat $3.1 billion merger deal

Tomorrow, the European Commission is expected to issue its Phase 1 decision regarding Luxembourg-based SES proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of US-headquartered Intelsat. The deal, first announced in April 2024, aims to create a transatlantic satellite communications powerhouse capable of competing with low-Earth orbit challengers such as SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

The merger would combine SES and Intelsat’s extensive fleets, comprised of more than 100 geostationary and 26 medium Earth orbit satellites, and a joint pipeline of 15 additional satellites planned before 2026. The companies estimate that approximately 60% of their combined revenues will come from high-growth network segments, such as government, mobility, and cloud-connected services.

Since early May, the Commission has assessed whether the deal would lessen competition in markets where SES and Intelsat both operate, particularly for mission-critical government and mobility services. However, rapid demand growth and continued pressure from emerging low-Earth orbit operators appear to have eased those concerns.

Thus, although both companies have overlapping activities in areas like fixed data services and satellite-enabled connectivity for telecom and cloud infrastructure, the deal is widely expected to receive unconditional clearance. This would also be in line with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which approved the transaction last week following a Phase 1 review that found no substantial concerns.

The Commission’s decision will be a major milestone in the regulatory process. While approvals have already been secured in jurisdictions like Brazil and the UK, the deal still awaits clearance from US authorities, including the FCC and Department of Justice, with the FCC’s review already exceeding its initial 180-day timeline. If cleared, the merger is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending remaining approvals.

Wednesday, 11 June – EU General Court to hear Meta and Tiktok challenges over DSA supervisory fees

On Wednesday, the General Court, the EU’s lower court, will hold a joint hearing in two separate challenges brought by Meta (T-55/24) and TikTok (T-58/24) against the European Commission’s decision to impose annual supervisory fees under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

In particular, the two companies are contesting how the Commission calculated their contributions toward the cost of enforcing the new content moderation law. Under the DSA, very large platforms and search engines (VLOPs and VLOEs) must help cover the Commission’s annual enforcement budget, set at €45.2 million for 2024, based on user numbers and capped at 0.05% of their annual net profits. Meta says it was asked to pay €11 million this year, while TikTok has not disclosed its share.

Both companies argue that the system is unbalanced. Meta claims that some platforms are paying nothing at all, leaving a disproportionate bill for others. TikTok has called the Commission’s methodology “flawed,” particularly for failing to account for whether platforms are actually profitable.

The Commission, for its part, has defended the fee model as legally sound and necessary to ensure independent oversight of large platforms’ content moderation practices A ruling in favour of Meta or TikTok could force the EU executive to revisit its methodology and potentially revise the cost allocation mechanism across the digital ecosystem.

Thursday, 12 June – CJEU’s General Advocate to issue legal opinion on Google's Android case

On Thursday, Advocate General Juliane Kokott of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is set to deliver her legal opinion in a landmark antitrust case concerning Google’s appeal against the European Commission’s record €4.125 billion fine over alleged abuses tied to its Android mobile operating system (Case C-738/22 P, Google v. European Commission).

The case stems from a 2018 Commission decision which found that Google had imposed illegal restrictions on Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominance of its search engine, with antitrust officials concluding that these restrictions hampered competition and harmed consumers. In particular, the case focused on three types of contracts that Google signed with manufacturers and operators, which, according to the EU’s antitrust officials, helped the company expand its presence to an extent that eliminated competition. These included requiring preinstallation of Google Search and Chrome as a condition for access to the Google Play Store and making payments to manufacturers to preinstall Google Search exclusively.

Subsequently, the EU’s General Court largely upheld the Commission’s decision in 2022, largely confirming the Commission’s conclusion that ‘’Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominant position of its search engine’’. However, the Court argued that the fine should be trimmed by nearly 5% to €4.125 billion, because of a disagreement in the reasoning of one point.  In its appeal to the CJEU, Google claimed that the EU General Court did not adequately establish that the company was guilty of excluding its rivals. 

In the hearing before the CJEU in January, Google’s legal representative stated that Brussels had imposed ‘’the most pro-competitive mobile platform in history with the Commission’s largest ever competition fine’’ and argued that the General Court mistakenly drew a link between Google’s preinstallation agreements with mobile operators and exclusionary effects. Although not legally binding, the Advocate General’s opinion this week is likely to shape the CJEU’s eventual ruling. The final ruling is expected in late 2025, most likely in Q4 2025 based on the usual 4–6 month window between AG opinions and judgements in complex competition cases.

Thursday, 12 June – EU General Court to hear Amazon’s legal challenge against DSA designation

Also this week, the EU General Court will hold a hearing on Amazon’s legal challenge (Case T-367/23) against its interim designation as a “very large online platform” (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The case marks one of the first major judicial tests of how the EU’s landmark content moderation law is applied to large e-commerce platforms.

Amazon was named a VLOP by the European Commission in 2023, based on user numbers surpassing the DSA’s 45 million monthly threshold. However, the company swiftly contested the label, arguing that the DSA’s VLOP obligations were designed for platforms that disseminate third-party content, like social media or video-sharing services, not online marketplaces.

In its appeal, Amazon claims it was “unfairly singled out” stressing that it is not the dominant online retailer in any EU country and that none of its competitors, despite having comparable reach, were designated. The company is seeking annulment of the decision and has already secured interim relief from the Court suspending its obligation to comply with Article 39 of the DSA, which requires the creation of a public advertising repository. However, the Court declined to freeze Article 38, meaning Amazon must still offer users a non-profiling-based recommender system option.

The outcome of the case could reshape how the Commission applies the DSA’s designation criteria and may influence future enforcement against other large platforms. German online retail company Zalando also launched a parallel challenge in 2023, raising similar objections tied to the nature of retail services and the methodology used to calculate active users. It is important to note that a full win for Amazon would not exempt it from the DSA altogether. Nevertheless, it would remove it from the more stringent VLOP regime, which includes systemic risk assessments, independent audits, and enhanced transparency requirements.