REUTERS/Francois LenoirEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (L) poses with Microsoft founder Bill Gates at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels January 22, 2015.
The European Union seems to hate American tech companies. A lot.
Just today, there's been a whole range of stories on this theme:
Europe is getting ready to throw the book at Google, which could end up with a $6 billion fine.
Uber issued complaints against Spain, France, and Germany after legal challenges from those countries.
And the EU is going after Apple's new music business before it has even really started.
American tech companies have been attacked for favourable tax treatment (European governments aren't happy to lose out on any tax revenues, especially with economies that have been in recession or stagnation for the past seven years) and US President Barack Obama saysEuropean opposition is a commercial, protectionist issue. But neither of these get to the real heart of the issue.
Europe's perceived hatred toward dominant American tech companies, like Google or Apple, is more cultural than anything.
By nature, Europe has a less positive attitude toward innovation and entrepreneurship than America.Take a look at these graphs from a study by the European Commission:
European Commission, Business Insider
Read more here:
This is why the European Union hates big tech companies