EU faces heat over millions paid to Musk firms

The EU handed over hundreds of millions of euros to companies belonging to the world's richest man, Elon Musk, a key ally of US President Donald Trump and frequent critic of the bloc, a document seen by AFP showed Tuesday.

German Green EU lawmaker Daniel Freund sent a letter in March to the European Commission, asking for information about EU funding to Musk-linked businesses.

In a response to Freund, the European Commission said it paid around 159 million euros ($176 million) to automaker Tesla to build charging stations for electric cars in 2023.


It also said in 2024, the EU commissioned Musk's SpaceX to launch satellites for the European Galileo satellite system, in a contract worth around $197 million.

The commission said it used SpaceX "due to delays in the commissioning of Ariane 6, the standard launch vehicle for Galileo".

The EU also paid Musk's X 630,000 euros for paid advertising on the social media platform until it suspending use of such services in October 2023.

Transatlantic relations have hit historic lows since Trump returned to the White House in January and Musk has attacked the EU's digital laws as censorship.

Critics including Freund cite that as good reason for the EU to pull the plug on payments to the tech billionaire.

"This man is an outspoken enemy of the EU and our core values. It is unacceptable that we continue to pay the richest man in the world hundreds of millions," Freund said on X.