US tech giant Meta once again tops the Brussels lobbying rankings, reporting an annual expenditure of €10 million on EU policy influence activities, according to a report by transparency watchdog groups published on Thursday.

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and LobbyControl’s annual report, which details lobbying expenditure in Brussels across different sectors, found the tech industry recorded the highest overall spending – totalling €73 million between May 2025 and May 2026.

Other major tech firms also spent big on EU lobbying over the period – including €9 million by Amazon, €8 million by Apple, €7 million by Microsoft and €5.5 million by Google, per the report.

The data is based upon analysis by LobbyFacts, an online database run by CEO and LobbyControl that draws on information from the EU’s own Transparency Register where companies self-report their lobbying expenditure.

While the ranking of Big Tech spenders has remained largely unchanged since 2020, the report notes that the industry’s collective expenditure on lobbying has increased by €26.7 million over six years.

The civil society groups point out that the rise in spending coincides with the European Commission’s shift of gear towards cutting existing tech rules – under a series of omnibus proposals – a process the Commission refers to as simplification but which CEO’s Bram Vranken argues amounts to deregulation of citizens’ digital rights.

In another notable finding, ecommerce giant Amazon increased its spending by €7.25 million over the reported period from 2020 to 2026, which was the highest increase among top tech firms’ declared spending.

CEO and LobbyControl’s report argues that Big Tech’s lobbying “is paying off”, arguing that the Commission’s proposed Digital Omnibus package – which included substantial changes to EU privacy rules – relied heavily on input from the tech industry.

The groups also warn that increased spending by tech giants could have ripple effects on future EU digital legislation.

Pointing to the upcoming Digital Fairness Act, which is expected to propose rules to tackle online consumer protection issues such as dark patterns and addictive design practices later this year, they write that the proposal is under “severe lobby pressure to be scrapped entirely”.

(nl)