The European Commission’s decision, announced on May 7th, to refer Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, and Portugal to the Court of Justice of the European Union marks a new chapter in Brussels’ growing centralizing trend.
The reason, according to the Commission, is the alleged failure to comply with the Digital Services Act (DSA), in force since February of last year. Brussels claims the national coordinators responsible for overseeing the application of the DSA in the countries in question were not granted full powers, nor has there been established an effective sanctioning regime.
The DSA was sold to the public as a tool to protect users from illegal content, counterfeit products, disinformation, and digital risks. However, it is not hard to see how, in practice, it is becoming an unprecedented instrument of bureaucratic control, concentrating more power in Brussels’s hands. Under the pretext of “ensuring uniform application,” the European Commission does not hesitate to deploy legal proceedings and threats of sanctions against states that show reluctance, hesitation, or simple administrative delays in the implementation of DSA provisions.
It is telling that sovereign countries are being dragged to court not for rejecting the law but for not having complied at the speed and intensity the Commission demands. Poland, for example, has not even designated a coordinator; Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic have done so, but they have not been granted the powers or the sanctioning mechanisms Brussels deems necessary.
This is no minor detail: it shows that these governments do not formally deny the law but may be wary of ceding too much power to an increasingly intrusive supranational structure.
The Commission does not seem willing to tolerate deviations or margins of interpretation. With proceedings also opened against Bulgaria and ongoing investigations into digital giants such as X, TikTok, and Meta, Brussels is sending an unequivocal message: the European project is no longer a community of freely cooperating states but a regulatory web demanding uniformity, speed, and total alignment.
The DSA is not just any law. Along with the Digital Markets Act, it is one of the cornerstones of the new European regulatory framework for the digital world. Together, they mark the beginning of a hyper-regulated regime that can impose disproportionate burdens on companies, limit freedom of expression to fight disinformation, and ultimately increase central power at the expense of national institutions.
Javier Villamor is a Spanish journalist and analyst. Based in Brussels, he covers NATO and EU affairs at europeanconservative.com. Javier has over 17 years of experience in international politics, defense, and security. He also works as a consultant providing strategic insights into global affairs and geopolitical dynamics.
