The EU faced questions on Wednesday over how much of its money goes to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s companies as tensions ramp up between the new US administration and Brussels.
US President Donald Trump has criticised the European Union, claiming it was “formed in order to screw the United States”, and has threatened the bloc with higher tariffs.
One of Trump’s biggest allies is Musk, whose social media platform X faces an EU probe. Musk has accused the EU of censorship with its content moderation rules.
German Green EU lawmaker Daniel Freund sent a letter on Tuesday to the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, asking for “a detailed list of EU funding allocated to companies owned or controlled by Elon Musk” over the past five years.
The businesses named included SpaceX, Tesla, X, Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI and “any other relevant entities linked” to Musk.
Freund said he wanted details of “grants, tenders, subsidies” including any money spent on advertising on social media platforms owned or controlled by him.
“Trump’s MAGA crowd including Musk have the clear aim to weaken or even destroy the EU. So we should have a very close look at the EU funding we provide to them,” Freund told AFP on Wednesday.
“For me it’s clear: the EU should not give millions to people that want to destroy it.”