That feels like a witty thing to say without much basis in reality. If the EU got their act together and gave Firefox funding, it would be more of a pain in the neck for them to stop doing that than it would for them to threaten Mozilla over e.g. anti privacy policies. Even Germany, a single nation with a lot less difficulty in passing laws, hasn't used their Sovereign Tech Fund (https://sovereign.tech) in such a manner.
And even if they did, it would have to be a world in which they've lost all funding from Google and becoming dependent only on the EU. Perhaps such a thing might happen, but it wouldn't happen overnight — in the meantime it would be more money, from more diversified sources.
1) The European Commission has proposed Chat Control, pressuring platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram to scan encrypted messages with AI, including client-side scanning, which critics say breaks encryption and enables mass surveillance.
2) The EU has adopted the eID (European Digital Identity), a centralized digital ID system via a “wallet” app, tied to biometric and personal data for service access.
3) The EU’s Data Retention Directive forced telecoms to store metadata until it was struck down in 2014; debates still persist.
4) The EU’s Digital Services Act mandates platforms share data with authorities to fight illegal content, raising profiling concerns.
5) The EU’s Data Act requires businesses to share data with governments, threatening personal info control.
6) The EU supports the UN Cybercrime Treaty, boosting global surveillance and data-sharing powers.
That’s just off the top of my head; I’m sure there are more examples of how the EU abuses its power and infringes on users’ privacy.
So yes, of all possible stewards for Firefox, the EU is maybe the third-worst, behind only China and Putin’s Russia.
And even if they did, it would have to be a world in which they've lost all funding from Google and becoming dependent only on the EU. Perhaps such a thing might happen, but it wouldn't happen overnight — in the meantime it would be more money, from more diversified sources.