Elon Musk in the sights of the Greens: asked the stop to 330 million euros in European funds from his companies

The Green Party intensified his pressure on the European Union, asking for an immediate suspension of public funding from companies Elon Muskincluding Tesla, Spacex, X (the former Twitter), Neuralink, The Boring Company and Xai. This move comes after a series of political interventions of the US billionaire who have aroused concerns in many Member States because they are perceived as real political interference on the European scene.

An appeal to Brussels

«Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, received hundreds of millions of euros in EU funds. This is wrong, « wrote the German deputy of the Verdi, Daniel Freundon X, Musk’s social network. « The EU should stop payments to a man who is a declared enemy of the European Union and our fundamental values, » continued the MEP. Always Freund, on 4 March, had sent a letter to the European Commission, asking for a detailed list of European funds for Musk companies in the last five yearsincluding subsidies, contracts and advertising expenses. In the letter, Freund asked to « know how much taxpayers’ money go to Musk.

The commissioner’s response for the EU budget: 330 million to Musk

The post published by Freund on X is commenting on the response to his letter arrived from the European Commissioner for the Budget, Piotr Serafin. According to the document from Luo produced, The European funds received by the companies controlled by Musk are over 330 million EURor, of which 180 million in Space X, 158 million in Tesla and 630 thousand euros to X. Specifically, according to data from the financial transparency system (FTS), three subsidies granted to Tesla Motors Netherlands BV are underway as part of the mechanism to connect Europe. The subsidies are part of the Fund for infrastructure for alternative fuels for the dissemination of charging stations for long-distance vehicles along the Transe European transport network (TEN-T), and are financing contributions per unit, based on charging points and related links to the network.

In 2024, we still read in the response of the EU Commission, « Space X received an exceptional contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) On behalf of the Commission for two launches planned for some time, each of which transports two Galileo satellites (the EU constellation for positioning, navigation and timing services). This is due to delays in the commissioning of Ariane 6, the standard launch vehicle for Galileo who was put in service in July 2024 « . As for X, however, the response of the European Commissioner reports funding of 630 thousand euros In paid advertising on the platform since Elon Musk has acquired the property. Since October 2023, finally the letter from the EU Commission, the European executive has suspended all advertisements and paid services on the platform. In light of all this, « it is unacceptable that we continue to pay hundreds of millions of subsidies to the richest man in the world », the MEP Freund has closed on X.

The criticisms and the cautious approach of the EU

Meanwhile, also the French president Emmanuel Macron has openly criticized Musk for his support for far -right movements, such as theAlternative Für Deutschland (AFD) in Germany, and for his declarations against the European Union, while another 38 MEPs had joined the Freund’s appeal, asking for an assessment of the compliance of Musk’s actions with the Digital Services Act (DSA). The letter they had signed underlined that Musk is not only a foreign billionaire, but also the owner of a platform that the entrepreneur uses to promote his personal opinions at the expense of that of his opponents as well as conveying off -virgin content.

However, the European Commission has adopted a cautious approach, avoiding to further feed the clash. A spokesman said that responding to the requests of the MEPs « would mean feeding the debate », thus indicating the political choice not to intervene directly in the lawsuit.

Economic implications

But Musk’s political declarations, which seem to many to be true attacks on democracy in Europe and its liberal history and freedom, also had economic repercussions for the same Supermilionary. Tesla sales in Europe decreased drastically, with a 59.5% drop in Germany In January 2025 compared to the same month of the previous year. In addition, some companies, such as the German Lichtblick, have decided to stop relations with Tesla due to Musk’s extremist political positions.

Future perspectives

In a context of growing political polarization and attention to ethical issues in public funding, the Elon Musk case could be the turning point for a European Union that tries to redefine relations with large US technological companies. For years Brussels, in fact, has been trying to exercise greater tax and regulatory control over the big tech – including Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft – Accuse of evade the taxman by moving profits in tax havens such as Ireland or Luxembourg, while generating huge revenues throughout the EU.

Initiatives such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the recent proposal of a « European web tax » represent a systemic attempt to empower the platforms, both from a tax point of view and in terms of transparency and content. The growing tension with Musk is therefore also symbolic: it is not only a controversial entrepreneur, but a wider system in which the economic and media power of the big tech clashes with the regulatory sovereignty of the European Union.

EU-Silicon Valley relations

The pressing of the Greens and other political groups could thus act as a catalyst for a more radical change: subordinate access to the European market to respect the tax, democratic and environmental rules. In this scenario, Brussels could not only put an end to public subsidies for companies that violate these principles, as the Greens are now asking for, but also redefining the relationship between Europe and Silicon Valley. The challenge, ultimately, is greater than Elon Musk: it concerns the future of the digital economy in Europe and the continent’s ability to protect its values, data and resources against an increasingly global concentration of power.