Trump’s tech bros pose ‘existential threat’ to EU, says Brussels

The Brussels effect works because of the size of the EU market and the technical quality of the regulations themselves, said Aslak Berg, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

But it works best as a soft power, he added, which is different to the US approach of issuing “a very serious threat”.

“It’s basically demanding regulatory subordination to the US, conditioning US market access for European goods on the regulatory framework,” said Mr Berg. “It’s a direct attack on the sovereignty of the EU, which the EU cannot accept.”