EU's top tech enforcer Thierry Breton resigns and criticises EU Commission president 

Thierry Breton has been the Commissioner responsible for regulating tech giants operating within the bloc under the Digital Services Act. 

Thierry Breton, the influential EU Commissioner in charge of the internal market, has resigned from the bloc’s executive arm, saying that France was asked to provide a different nominee for the next European Commission.

The surprise move complicates Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s task to begin the new five-year term, likely delaying the planned November 1 start. It also underscores the difficult relationship between Ms von der Leyen and Mr Breton, who said in his resignation letter that her request was “further testimony to questionable governance". 

He said that Ms von der Leyen asked France to withdraw his name as a nominee “for personal reasons that in no instance have you discussed directly with me,” and in return France would get a more influential role in the commission.

Ms Von der Leyen had previously asked member states to rethink their male commissioner nominees in an effort to get closer to her target for a gender-balanced commission, a process that was already causing delays.

She was expected to announce her new commission on Tuesday in Strasbourg. 

That timeline was under pressure after the Slovenian opposition party led by populist Janez Jansa delayed the confirmation of its commission candidate.

French president Emmanuel Macron has now proposed his close ally Stephane Sejourne, France’s outgoing foreign minister, to be the country’s new commissioner for the EU. 

A commission spokesperson said that Ms von der Leyen thanked Breton for his work but declined to address any deliberations regarding his role, calling them confidential. 

The commission didn’t immediately say who would take over his duties at the commission.

Mr Breton’s departure could also further complicate plans to boost EU competitiveness, as he was in charge of the portfolio covering the bloc’s industrial policy and was an advocate of joint borrowing for areas including defence, another of his policy areas.

Enforcer

Mr Breton served as the bloc’s industry chief and also was the chief enforcer of the new Digital Services Act, which regulates content moderation on social-media platforms. As such, he often tangled with Elon Musk’s X as well as Meta Platforms.

In August, Mr Breton penned an open letter to Mr Musk, pointing out that X was facing EU scrutiny for potential failures to tackle disinformation, and warning him against disseminating problematic content.

The timing of Mr Breton’s letter, posted ahead of Musk’s interview with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, led a Trump adviser to accuse the EU of meddling in the US election. Mr Musk replied to Breton by posting an expletive-laden meme.

Over his five years in charge of the commission’s internal market unit, the 69-year-old has overseen the roll-out of a string of landmark digital regulations, including the content moderation rulebook the DSA, the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the chips act.

Breton — who was formerly ceo of French software maker Atos and France Telecom, France’s finance minister and a bestselling sci-fi writer — would eagerly go toe to toe with technology moguls and founders he thought were not following EU regulation strictly enough.

That put him on a collision course with Mr Musk, with whom he traded barbs online, but also with other commissioners who felt the Frenchman was hogging the limelight.

Bloomberg