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Comment by erikrothoff | Hacker News Reader

I'm curious, with a sweeping statement like "EU bureaucrats are jealous of US internet companies", who are you referring to? Is it EU as whole, or individuals who have a personal stake in creating EU internet companies? Because from an outside perspective, this statement seems a lot like tin foil hattery, but if you do have anything to back up your claim, I'm all ears.

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While it's not really proof, Obama has said the same thing[0].

Obama:

> In defense of Google and Facebook, sometimes the European response here is more commercially driven than anything else. As I’ve said, there are some countries like Germany, given its history with the Stasi, that are very sensitive to these issues. But sometimes their vendors — their service providers who, you know, can’t compete with ours — are essentially trying to set up some roadblocks for our companies to operate effectively there.

[0] http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/17/8050691/obama-our-companie...

Nearly everything in the EU or Germany is commercially driven. I've didn't seen a new law that didn't screwed the people and didn't helped some businesses.

The anti-GMO laws comissioned by the E.U. are largely a front for trade protectionism from U.S. agriculture (which is mostly GMO):

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/27/opinion/trade-protectionis...

Quaero is a dead giveaway. Literally.

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