EU-crat Breton Might Have Acted Without EU Approval When He Sent That Letter to Elon Musk

The European Commission has denied that its internal market commissioner had approval from Ursula von der Leyen to send the letter, with one EU official saying, 'Thierry has his own mind and way of working and thinking'. https://t.co/DYfoEV9slL pic.twitter.com/y2kisI2b9J

— Financial Times (@FT) August 13, 2024

That's Elon Musk on the left, opposite a childless cat lady, it appears. 

The FT's headline and story say that EU Commissioner Breton overstepped his authority and sent that cautionary letter to Musk without first getting EU clearance. 

However, that is refuted by this sentence in the body of the report:

Breton is empowered to oversee enforcement of the Digital Services Act and can communicate independently with companies.

So, who knows? 

Whether it was with or without approval, Breton made an empty threat towards Musk and X, and empty threats always lead to embarrassment. I say an empty threat because Musk has the means to connect the EU's 500 million consumers with direct internet access from his network of satellites if he wishes, bypassing the EU and other authorities completely. 

To misquote the most famous line from the great Hilaire Belloc poem The Modern Traveller, "whatever happens, he has got the Starlink gun and we have not."

Much more to come on this, I hope.