> "give the right answer and you can avoid an unpleasant official action"

You are thinking of the mob. Thankfully here in the US official actions are generally done in view of the public.

No. We're thinking about a government that doesn't rush into potentially irreversible actions without working out a solution for a problem with the parties involved.

Eh? No; the US works broadly the same. For instance, a rather amusing recent one: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/31/tesla-reportedly-facing-doj-...

The “probe” here would be, at least in the first instance, usually mostly letters asking questions. Note that it is “reportedly”; the media didn’t find this out because the DOJ had a banner on its website saying “we are investigating an alleged glass house”. That comes later, if things are not resolved.

The reason we know EU officials has spoken to Apple is because at least one has said so in public.