Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner For Internal Market from France, has abruptly resigned, voicing his disapproval of the EU executive’s “questionable governance” under Ursula von der Leyen. His resignation announced via a post on X, marks a dramatic exit reflective of his tumultuous tenure as Europe’s chief censorship advocate.
Breton’s resignation is not only significant for its sudden nature but also because it follows a history of unilateral actions that have frequently put him at odds with other members of the Commission. Recently, Breton independently sent a contentious letter to Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, threatening consequences if the platform allowed content that could “seriously harm” EU citizens.
This letter, sent just hours before Musk’s scheduled interview with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, was reportedly issued without the coordination or agreement of von der Leyen or other commissioners.
Don’t see this as the EU backing away from its pro-censorship policies, however. Von der Leyen is herself a censorship advocate.
Good news for now - but who knows who’s going to be appointmented instead?