The European Union is bracing for an onslaught of lawsuits from the largest tech companies - Alphabet Inc’s Google, Amazon.com Inc, Meta Platforms Inc and Apple Inc - over incoming rules that will change how the industry operates, said the head of the region’s new San Francisco outpost.

“We’re not naïve,” Gerard de Graaf, a top EU official focused on regulations for digital platforms, told Bloomberg News in his first interview with a US media outlet since opening the EU’s office in the heart of Silicon Valley last month. “There will be litigation.”

During his previous posting in Brussels, De Graaf oversaw the passage of the Digital Markets Act, a recently enacted EU law designed to prevent technology giants from using their power to disadvantage smaller companies. De Graaf also oversaw the creation of the DMA’s companion measure, the Digital Services Act, which will require the companies to combat illegal and harmful online content. Both measures are slated to take effect next year.

The companies need to decide the “kind of relationship” they want to have with their European overseers: an adversarial dynamic where they challenge every move regulators make, or a more collaborative approach, said de Graaf. “We would prefer that challenge is the exception rather than becoming a new rule.”

De Graaf, who started in his new post in September, said he’s not planning to be Europe’s “policeman on the ground” in San Francisco. Instead, he hopes to play a diplomatic role, helping to create substantive relationships with tech industry executives, consumer advocates and state officials as they sort through the EU’s sweeping set of new rules. One of his primary tasks will be to help guide the companies through questions they have about how to comply with the DMA and DSA.

De Graaf said there’s been significant interest from the tech companies and civil society groups in the EU’s new California office and he’s already participated in a slew of meetings with representatives from companies and non-profits. His office plans to host seminars, panels and other events to help educate the tech industry on its new regulatory obligations, as well as foster better communication with EU officials.

The largest tech companies have complained that the DMA and DSA are vaguely written and overly burdensome, saying that the laws lays out a series of “do’s” and “don’ts” without much explanation around how they should implement the changes.

“I don’t like the word ‘burden’ in the context of what we’re trying to achieve,” de Graaf said. “We’re trying to protect our democracy.”

Some of the new provisions will require significant resources and internal restructuring by the companies. For instance, the DSA sets up a process that will enable users to appeal content moderation decisions the companies have made.

De Graaf said that his meetings so far have led him to believe that the companies are taking the DMA and DSA seriously, investing significantly and preparing to follow the new rules.

“We’re available, we can talk, we can advise and have a regulatory dialogue, but the obligation to comply rests with those who are under the obligations of the legislature,” he said.

 - Bloomberg