Ireland plans to sue the EU over a growing dispute over technology controls.

A long-running dispute over Big Tech regulation in Ireland and the European Union has come amid accusations that Irish officials are giving tech giants an easy ride on their territory.

The Brussels-based European Data Protection Board, which oversees the Irish Data Protection Commission, has criticized the DPC and urged Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent company Meta to step up its investigations into the misuse of personal data. The DPP responded by saying that it would sue the DPP for “excessing its power”.

This is the latest in a long series of battles between the EU and Big Tech over issues such as competition, taxation and privacy, with Ireland – the biggest hub for Big Tech companies in the EU – taking the brunt of it.

“We have a very long and ongoing problem with Ireland,” said Max Schreims, an Austrian lawyer and data protection activist who founded the privacy campaign group NOYB. “Ireland is one of the most tax-free places in Europe for large companies, and this includes regulatory issues.”

Ireland has primary responsibility for regulating technology across the EU when it comes to data protection. Schrems alleges that Ireland failed to do its job for fear of upsetting Big Tech.

“They became dependent on these companies, and it makes it very difficult to enforce fundamental rights in Europe anymore,” he said.

Irish Civil Liberties Council member Johnny Ryan has also been highly critical of Ireland’s regulatory efforts.

“The Object of the European Landmark Law – GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation]- was ultimately to end the free-for-all of information within and between these companies, and the legislation left the Irish authority – the DPC – in charge of the police,” Ryan said. But in my view, it is the DPC that paralyzes European enforcement against Big Tech. It is isolated in Europe. Clearly there is a problem with the commission.

The commission declined Marketplace’s request for an interview, saying the cases were “in court or soon to be in court.” The Irish government also declined to comment. As well as IDA Ireland, the agency responsible for attracting foreign direct investment, as well as Technology Ireland, the sector’s leading business organisation. This is clearly a sensitive matter.

But Matthew Lesh of the Irish Overseas Institute of Free Market Economic Affairs in London is prepared to weigh in on the matter. He argued that the Irish authorities were right to do everything to protect the most important industry.

“Over 100,000 people are employed in the technology sector in Ireland,” he pointed out. It contributes about 16 percent of Ireland’s economy.

Lesch is critical of what he calls the EU’s heavy-handed approach to Big Tech.

“Targeting tech companies for tough enforcement, throwing out big fines — that’s behavior that scares away investment, discourages innovation and ultimately stifles economic growth.”

Over the past three decades, an influx of major, mostly American, technology companies has fueled Ireland’s economic growth, making it Europe’s richest country. But privacy advocate Max Schrems says Ireland’s membership of the EU is essential to that progress, and the law is important even if it upsets companies.

“Ireland is extremely dependent on these industries, but above all they cannot enforce the rules in the EU,” he said.

Jim Stewart, a professor of finance at Trinity Business School in Dublin and a long-time critic of Ireland’s use of low corporate taxes to attract large foreign corporations, believes the country’s EU membership is being undermined by data protection. .

“It is very dangerous for us to dismiss EU regulation and tax concerns, especially when we go to the EU Commission and say ‘please help us with the Brexit failure’. It is vital to Ireland’s interests that we have a strong EU with all member states working together.”

Stewart does not accept that stricter enforcement of EU rules will trigger the exodus of big tech companies from Ireland. He believes that any job losses at those companies in the coming months will be due to the labor shake-up in the global tech industry.