Given the fact that the United States basically liberated Europe from Nazi domination during World War II and then helped it rebuild, one would think that Europe, even all these years later, would refrain from bullying its savior. However, that is not the case.
In recent years, the European Union has become too big for its britches as it attempts to exert its rules and regulations upon American companies.
In 2024, the European Union passed the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which aims to “foster sustainable and responsible corporate behavior in companies’ operations and across their global value chains.”
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According to the EU, the “new rules will ensure that companies in scope identify and address adverse human rights and environmental impacts of their actions inside and outside Europe.”
While this may sound innocuous, it is actually a direct threat to American sovereignty.
Earlier this year, The Heartland Institute released a comprehensive policy study detailing how the CSDDD would impact U.S. businesses, both big and small, as well as American citizens.
In a nutshell, “The directive attempts to globally institutionalize sweeping ESG objectives by mandating practices for large companies doing business in the European Union, regardless of whether those companies are headquartered in the EU.”
Moreover, “the CSDDD forces those companies to impose the same standards on many of the businesses operating within their global supply chains— fundamentally transforming all social and economic activity around the world.”
In short, as the report’s authors note, “the CSDDD is one of the most economically restrictive and nakedly authoritarian laws in the history of western democratic civilization.”
Unfortunately, the CSDDD was just the beginning of Europe’s quest to impose its values and policies upon the rest of the world.
Most recently, the EU passed the bland-sounding Artificial Intelligence Act, which it proudly proclaims is “the first comprehensive regulation on AI by a major regulator anywhere.”
Like the CSDDD, the EU’s AI Act is not receiving much attention in the mainstream media or political sphere. But it should, because it is arguably worse than the CSDDD and could cripple America’s AI development, implementation, and innovation.
Fortunately, a new policy study from The Heartland Institute, appropriately titled The EU AI Act: What Americans Need to Know, “answers key questions about the AI Act’s scope, enforcement, and implications for U.S. sovereignty, free expression, innovation, and competitiveness.”
According to the study’s author, Jack McPherrin, “The AI Act follows a well-established pattern of EU regulatory extraterritoriality often described as the ‘Brussels Effect.’ Rather than regulating only European firms and activities inside the EU, the Act’s jurisdictional trigger is ‘use in the Union,’ not corporate domicile.”
In other words, the EU AI Act applies to any U.S. company “whose AI outputs are used within the EU—whether it has a European presence or not.”
Along with substantial fines for violations, the AI Act is meant to produce a chilling effect, particularly with regard to free speech and information dissemination.
As expected, the AI Act seeks to discourage AI’s ability to propagate “misinformation,” “exploitation,” and “manipulation.” However, by doing so, it negates freedom of speech, which is a unique and foundational American principle.
The good news is that the AI Act, like the CSDDD, is an unwieldy law that will take years to enact. The bad news is that time is ticking, and most Americans remain in the dark about the EU’s stealth attempts to become the de facto rulemaking body for the world.
Before it is too late, Americans must emphatically reject all attempts by the EU to force its authoritarian agenda upon the United States.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has been the global leader in technological progress because the American system prioritizes entrepreneurship, innovation, competition, and free enterprise.
Europe, on the other hand, has lagged in technological breakthroughs partly due to its overly bureaucratic, centralized governing structure.
It would be a sin of the highest order if the United States were to bow to the European Union by granting Brussels the authority to regulate America’s budding AI industry into oblivion.
Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
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