A bit bitter. Thierry Breton expressed his regret on Wednesday at the lack of strong political support from the European Commission after the American sanctions taken against him. Speaking in a videoconference before the European Parliament, the former commissioner explained that the European executive had so far been content to offer him partial or full coverage of his legal fees to challenge this decision, without direct political initiative.
Banned from the United States since December 2025, Thierry Breton is accused by the US State Department of “censorship” in connection with his role in implementing the European regulation on digital services (DSA). He emphasized the need for a political intervention at the highest level to resolve this dispute. “What matters to me is to ensure that a dialogue is initiated at the highest political level, like the one President Macron proposes to open with President Donald Trump. In my opinion, this is the only solution to dispel this misunderstanding,” he declared.
Macron’s Intervention with Trump
The former leader of Atos emphasized that this issue goes beyond his personal situation and concerns the independence of European institutions. “It is necessary to have a discussion at the highest level to overturn this decision. Not only for my case, but also because we must ensure and clarify for everyone that our legislation, our rules, follow a very rigorous democratic process,” he affirmed, calling for the defense of European regulatory autonomy against external pressures.
In this context, Emmanuel Macron intervened with Donald Trump to demand the lifting of these sanctions targeting several European citizens, including Thierry Breton and Judge Nicolas Guillou. In a letter revealed by La Tribune Dimanche and consulted by AFP, the French president believes that “the sanctions adopted against Thierry Breton undermine European regulatory autonomy and are based, moreover, on erroneous analyses,” emphasizing that European digital legislation applies without discrimination and only within the territory of the European Union.
