The European Commission condemns the US veto of five European citizens, including former commissioner Thierry Breton

This Wednesday, the European Commission condemned the United States’ decision to ban five European citizens from entering the country, including former European Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton, and defended freedom of expression.

“It is a fundamental right in Europe and a value shared with the United States throughout the democratic world. The EU is an open, rules-based single market, and has the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in accordance with its democratic values ​​and international commitments,” the European Executive indicated in a statement.

Likewise, he highlighted that European standards for the management of digital platforms “guarantee safe, fair and equitable conditions of competition for all companies, applied without discrimination.” For this reason, it has requested “pertinent clarifications” from the US authorities.

“If necessary, we will respond quickly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures,” he concluded.

The US State Department has accused Breton – who was also France’s economy minister – of “censoring” US digital platforms and “coercing them to censor, demonetize and suppress US views with which they disagree.”