The Netherlands has joined France and Germany in calling on the EU to get tougher on big tech companies such as Facebook and Google.

The three countries have signed a discussion document claiming that Brussels’ plans to limit European dependence on American tech companies and to invest in European alternatives do not go far enough.

The three countries are proposing that all mergers and takeovers by companies such as Facebook and Google should be vetted by an EU monitoring body. The European Commission’s proposal as it currently stands only requires big tech companies to report merger plans to the EU.

Vetting would be one way of preventing big companies from swallowing up smaller, promising European start-ups with the goal to eliminate any future competition, junior economics minister Mona Keijzer told the Financieele Dagblad.

Discussions with all EU member states about the new law are expected to be concluded at the beginning of 2022.

Recently the Dutch government itself was accused of ‘driving millions into the arms of American big tech’ by making their services dependent on Google and Apple apps.

Government online services, such as the tax office and social benefits agency UWV, can only be safely accessed by people who agree to the Google or Apple account terms and conditions.