Tech lobbying spend rises 33% in two years in Europe, report
There are now more full-time tech lobbyists in Brussels than MEPs
Big Tech companies including Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Google have increased their combined lobbying spend in the EU by more than 33% in the past two years.
That’s according to non-profit research and campaigning groups Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl, who based their analysis on the EU Transparency Register.
Annual spend on lobbying in the bloc rose from €113 million in 2023 to €151 million in 2025 to date, a 33.6% increase over two years.
One-third (€49 million) of current spend is attributed to just ten companies, with seven of these based in the US.
Amazon (spending an extra €4.3 million), Microsoft and Meta (€2 million more each), and the business lobby group DIGITALEUROPE, whose members includes many of the same companies (€1.25 million extra), were the biggest contributors to the rise in lobbying spend.
According to a blog post published by Corporate Europe Observatory, big tech companies have held an average of more than one lobby meeting per day with EU Commission officials, totalling 146 meetings in the first half of 2025.
Backed by the Trump administration, Big Tech firms are lobbying hard to weaken or delay key EU regulations like the AI Act, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). They are supported in these aims by some European political parties. The report notes that the European People’s Party held a disproportionate number of meetings with Big Tech lobbyists.
In addition, the researchers say the number of “lobby actors” - tech-friendly thinktanks, associations, companies and intermediaries - in Brussels has grown from 565 to 733 since 2023, thanks in part to a wave of new AI-related firms opening premises in the Belgian Capital.
“There are now more full-time lobbyists influencing the EU’s digital policies than there are MEPs in the European Parliament,” remarks Corporate Europe Observatory.
It continues: “The trend is very clear: the tech industry is outspending other corporate sectors known for their lobbying power and influence over the EU’s political agenda. For example the top 10 digital companies are spending three times as much as the top 10 spenders in the pharmaceutical, financial, and automotive industries, and twice as much as the energy sector.”
As well as direct lobbying, Big Tech firms spend more than €9 million per year on consultancies, PR firms and think tanks to amplify their messaging, which has been increasingly antagonistic towards any regulation.
Amid pressure from home and abroad, MEPs have warned against weakening key legislation to appease tech firms and the US administration.
So far, EC legislators appear to be resisting pressure to weaken the rules, with fines and investigations against Google, Meta and TikTok, among others, proceeding as normal. But the report’s authors say deregulation lobbying is moving into a new gear.
“Instead of beating the deregulation drum, the Commission should safeguard the public interest from Big Tech influence and strengthen the enforcement of its existing digital playbook instead,” they conclude.