&gt;<i>What options do they lose?</i><p>What will the EU do against companies that have no legal presence in the EU?<p>The only way for the EU to enforce these kinds of rules is to 1) limit enforcement to companies with EU offices (which just hurts Europe), 2) prohibit individuals from using non-complying web services (Great Wall of Europe? unlikely), or 3) prohibit European businesses from doing business with non-complying services (i.e. make it illegal for Europeans to buy ads on Facebook).<p>Government policy-making isn&#x27;t making a wishlist.  It must be backed by coercion or it is meaningless.