Microsoft President Brad Smith on European laws: "Even when we've lost cases in European courts, Microsoft has…"

Microsoft President Brad Smith affirmed the Redmond giant's commitment to European regulatory compliance, stating that "even when we've lost cases in European courts, Microsoft has long respected and complied with European laws."

The remarks came during Smith's visit to Brussels as part of a broader charm offensive amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and European Union following President Donald Trump 's recent tariff threats.

"We understand that European laws apply to our business practices in Europe, just as local laws apply to local practices in the United States and similar laws apply elsewhere in the world," Smith said in a comprehensive blog post outlining five digital commitments to Europe, including compliance with the Digital Markets Act .


Microsoft diverges from White House on EU tech regulation
Smith's position appears to diverge from the White House's criticism of the EU's regulatory actions against US tech companies. Last week, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for DMA breaches, triggering Trump's threat of retaliatory tariffs against what he called "overseas extortion" of American firms.

"We're committed not only to building digital infrastructure for Europe, but to respecting the role that laws across Europe play in regulating our products and services," Smith emphasized.


Billions in European data center investment amid geopolitical concerns
The Microsoft president announced plans to expand the company's European datacenter capacity by 40% over the next two years, with operations in 16 European countries. The company is investing tens of billions of dollars annually in expanding its datacenters across Europe, with plans that will "more than double our European datacenter capacity between 2023 and 2027," resulting in "cloud operations in more than 200 datacenters across the continent."

Addressing concerns about US tech dominance amid geopolitical uncertainty, Smith pledged that "in the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure."

The tech giant also announced a new "European Digital Resilience Commitment" to be included in all contracts with European national governments and the European Commission, making this commitment legally binding.

"We are at a moment in time when business needs to be a bridge across the Atlantic," Smith concluded, positioning Microsoft as a stabilizing force amid increasing US-EU tensions.