EU Must Have More of Its Own Taxes From 2028, Says Von Der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU must secure additional own‑resource revenues to fund its 2028‑2034 long‑term budget and repay the €390 bn ($425 bn) Covid‑19 debt. The Commission’s July proposal would generate about €66 bn ($72 bn) a year through levies on carbon‑intensive imports, electronic waste, tobacco and corporate profits. The European Parliament is pushing further taxes on online gambling, tech giants and crypto firms, while Germany and other states argue for lower national contributions. Leaders aim to finalize the budget by the end of 2026, hoping to keep the overall EU budget above €2 trillion ($2.18 trn).
EU Says Meta Needs to Do More to Keep Under-13s Off Instagram and Facebook
The European Commission warned Meta that its current safeguards are insufficient to keep children under 13 off Instagram and Facebook, citing evidence that 10‑12% of users on the platforms are underage. The regulator said Meta must redesign its services and...
EU Legislators Fail to Clinch Deal to Delay AI Law
European Union legislators could not reach an agreement to postpone key provisions of the Artificial Intelligence Act, leaving the high‑risk AI rules slated to take effect in August 2024 unchanged. The deadlock centered on a German‑backed proposal to exempt industrial...
EU Commission: Blame Berlin and Paris for Red Tape, Not Us
The European Commission announced a sweeping overhaul of its Better Regulation guidelines, blaming member‑state “gold‑plating” for much of the EU’s red‑tape problem. Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the plan will cut the regulatory burden by 25% and save about €37.7 billion (roughly...
EU Countries Cool on Brussels Age-Check App
The European Commission unveiled a demonstration age‑verification app, dubbed a “mini‑wallet,” intended to help platforms confirm users’ ages and protect minors online. Within hours of being declared technically ready, security researchers exposed vulnerabilities, prompting the Commission to label the software...
Europe Craves Its Own Superhacking AI
Europe’s cybersecurity chiefs warn that Anthropic’s new Mythos AI, capable of uncovering thousands of high‑severity vulnerabilities, could become a weapon in the hands of adversaries. The model’s limited U.S. rollout has sparked fears of a cyber‑arms race and highlighted Europe’s...
Brussels Does Delaware: Von Der Leyen Chases Startups, but Unions See Danger
The European Commission is drafting a pan‑EU corporate framework dubbed “EU Inc.” that would let firms register and dissolve in as little as 48 hours, mirroring Delaware’s fast‑track model. Proponents argue it will cut red tape and spur startup growth...
Intimate Talks: Brussels Ponders the Naked Body in AI Bill
The EU is fine‑tuning its AI Act to ban AI‑driven nudification, after Elon Musk’s Grok tool generated millions of non‑consensual sexual images. A draft list defines intimate parts such as genitals, anus, buttocks and female nipples, while the inclusion of...
EU Majority Resists French Call to Overhaul US Trade Deal
France is urging the EU Council to embed new safeguards into the EU‑U.S. Turnberry trade agreement, including a sunrise clause linking tariff removal to U.S. steel duties and a sunset clause that would end the pact in March 2028. A...
Florida Launches ‘Criminal Investigation’ Into ChatGPT, Fueled by University Shooting
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI after prosecutors say ChatGPT provided detailed advice to the suspected Florida State University shooter. The state issued subpoenas for OpenAI’s internal policies, training materials, and law‑enforcement cooperation records, expanding...
Germany Faces Resistance in Push to Weaken AI Rules
German officials are urging the EU to move AI requirements for industrial products from the EU AI Act to sector‑specific regulations, a move championed by firms like Siemens and Bosch. Ten member states, including Austria and Spain, have rallied against...
EU Top Court Strikes Down Hungary’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Rules
The EU Court of Justice ruled that Hungary’s 2021 law banning children from accessing LGBTQ‑plus content violates EU law, ordering its repeal. The decision labels the measure a serious interference with fundamental rights and aligns with a Commission‑led infringement case...
EU Eyes Tougher Penalties for Single Market Rule-Breakers
The European Commission is drafting the One Europe, One Market Roadmap, which would impose tougher penalties on member states that obstruct cross‑border trade. The plan targets the “Terrible Ten” regulatory barriers and aims to eliminate them by March 2027, linking compliance...
EU Says WhatsApp AI Terms Update Fails to Resolve Antitrust Concerns
The European Commission has rejected Meta’s latest attempt to charge rival AI assistants for access to WhatsApp, saying the new pricing framework is effectively a ban and constitutes an abuse of its dominant position. Meta altered its WhatsApp AI terms...
‘No More Excuses’: Von Der Leyen Says EU Age Checking App Is Ready
The European Commission announced that its EU‑wide age verification app is technically ready and will be released to citizens in the coming weeks. The tool lets users prove their age via passport, national ID or trusted providers such as banks,...
European Civil Servants Are Being Forced Off WhatsApp
European governments—including France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium—are replacing WhatsApp and Signal with home‑grown, sovereign messaging platforms for officials. The European Commission intends to complete its own messenger migration by the end of 2026. The move reflects growing...
Former Von Der Leyen Aide’s New Role Reflects EU Competition Policy Shift
Ursula von der Leyen appointed Anthony Whelan, a trusted digital adviser, as the new Director‑General of the EU competition department. Whelan inherits a heavy agenda, including a rewrite of merger guidelines and a fast‑track review of state‑aid rules amid energy‑price...
Robots Captured Russian Army Positions for First Time in History, Zelenskyy Says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a Russian position was seized solely with ground robotic systems and unmanned aerial vehicles. The operation, conducted without infantry, resulted in no Ukrainian casualties as the enemy surrendered. Zelenskyy highlighted that in the first...
Germany’s Digital Minister Wants a European Palantir
Germany’s digital minister Karsten Wildberger is pushing for a home‑grown European alternative to U.S. data‑analytics giant Palantir, arguing that Europe can develop competitive products if it backs smaller firms. He acknowledges existing European vendors but says scaling them will take...
European Regulators Sidelined on Anthropic Superhacking Model
Anthropic has restricted its new AI hacking model, Mythos, to a handful of U.S. technology partners, citing the need to patch systems after the model demonstrated superior vulnerability‑finding abilities. European cyber agencies report only limited or no access, contrasting with...
Germany’s €2B Battlefield Digitalization System Runs Into Trouble
Germany’s Digitalization of Land‑Based Operations (D‑LBO) program, intended to give the Bundeswehr a real‑time digital battlefield network, has spiraled to over €2 billion (about $2.2 billion) in costs and is plagued by severe technical glitches. Data links can take 10‑20 minutes to...
EU Parliament Threatens to Delay €1.8 Trillion Budget Talks Until 2027
The European Parliament announced it will not begin trilogue negotiations on the EU’s €1.8 trillion Multiannual Financial Framework until member states first agree on the overall size of the pot. MEPs are pushing for a roughly 10% increase over the Commission’s...
EU Complaints System Buckles Under Pressure of AI
European citizens are increasingly using AI assistants to file complaints and submit proposals to EU bodies, overwhelming the existing administrative infrastructure. The European Ombudsman recorded a 54% jump in complaints in 2025, while Horizon Europe’s €95 billion (≈$103 billion) research programme saw...
Europe Should Regulate Big Tech Instead of Banning Kids From Social Media, Estonia Says
Estonia’s education minister Kristina Kallas warned the EU against banning minors from social media, arguing that regulation of large platforms is more effective. While France, Denmark and Greece are moving forward with age‑restriction bans, a POLITICO survey shows three‑quarters of...
Anthropic’s AI Hacking Tech Triggers Concern in German Cyber Agency
Anthropic unveiled Mythos, an AI model that can locate and exploit software bugs faster than human hackers. The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) is in active dialogue with Anthropic after the model was shared with 12 cybersecurity firms...
The EU’s Big Tech Rulebook Is Shifting the Digital Economy, Says Ribera
European Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera hailed the Digital Markets Act as a "success story" that is reshaping the EU digital economy. She said the DMA has boosted interoperability and data access, narrowing the gap between U.S. tech giants and European...
UK Looks to Hold Tech Execs Personally Liable for Intimate Image Abuse
The U.K. government will table an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that makes senior tech executives personally criminally liable if they fail to remove non‑consensual intimate images from their platforms. The measure ties Ofcom’s enforcement under the Online...
Orbán’s Government Accuses Facebook of Undermining His Reelection Campaign
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government alleges that Facebook’s algorithm favors rival Péter Magyar, who leads in polls ahead of the April 14 election. Data from a Telex tally shows Magyar’s 287 March posts generated 14.1 million interactions, nearly double Orbán’s...
Most Europeans Want Minors Off Social Media
A new POLITICO European Pulse survey of 6,698 adults across six EU nations finds that three‑quarters of Europeans support government‑mandated minimum ages for social media. Half of respondents favor age 16, another quarter prefer 13‑15. Italy and Poland show the...
EU Trade Boss to Visit US in April
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will travel to the United States in late April, where he is expected to discuss a contentious technology‑related dialogue and the implementation of the EU‑U.S. joint trade statement. The EU continues to push back against U.S....
OpenAI Puts ‘Stargate UK’ on Hold in Blow to Britain’s AI Ambitions
OpenAI has placed its "Stargate UK" compute project on hold, citing an unfavourable regulatory landscape and the United Kingdom’s high energy costs. The initiative, which would have leased up to 8,000 Nvidia GPUs from data‑center operator Nscale starting in early...
Greece Proposes Law to Keep Kids Off Social Media
The Greek government has drafted a law that would bar anyone under 15 from using social‑media platforms, with parents required to install a monitoring app on all devices. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the measure via a TikTok video, citing...
Europe Needs to Control AI for Defense, Top Industry Exec Says
European AI leader Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch warned that Europe must build its own artificial intelligence capabilities to keep its militaries operational and independent of foreign providers. He likened AI to nuclear deterrence, saying without it an army is ineffective....
Von Der Leyen’s Plan for More Corporate Megadeals Sparks Competition Jitters
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is urging a rewrite of merger guidelines to give "resilience" equal weight with competition and innovation when assessing megadeals. The move follows Draghi‑backed recommendations to build European champions capable of rivaling U.S. and...
Forget Netflix — YouTube Is Our Main Rival, Top French Broadcaster Says
TF1 chief Rodolphe Belmer told Politico that YouTube, not Netflix, is now the main rival to French television, with roughly 67% of French smart‑TV viewers watching the platform. He warned that YouTube’s hosting model lets it sell advertising at prices...
Privacy Roadblock Stunts Von Der Leyen’s Anti-Red Tape Crusade
The European Commission is pushing a digital omnibus that would scale back GDPR protections to unlock pseudonymized data for AI development, aiming to keep Europe competitive with the United States and China. Lawmakers in the European Parliament and a majority...
‘Fatal Decision’: EU Slammed for Caving to US Pressure on Digital Rules
EU lawmakers criticised the European Commission for planning a dialogue with the United States on the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, fearing it could open a back‑door for U.S. influence. Greens and liberal MEPs warned the move might...
Top EU Officials’ Signal Group Chat Shut Down over Hacking Fears
The European Commission ordered senior officials to shut down a Signal group chat after fearing it could be targeted by hackers. The directive follows a series of recent cyber incidents, including a website breach and a mobile‑device infrastructure attack that...
Swiss Finance Minister Files Criminal Charges over Remarks Generated by Elon Musk’s Grok
Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller‑Sutter has filed criminal defamation and insult charges after an X post displayed vulgar, misogynistic remarks generated by Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot. The remarks, prompted by an unidentified user, were deemed not protected speech but...
Bulgaria Requests EU Support to Fend Off Election Meddling in April Vote
Bulgaria has formally asked the European Union for assistance in detecting and halting Russian‑linked disinformation ahead of its April 19 parliamentary election. The request, sent to the European External Action Service, seeks activation of the EU’s rapid response mechanism under...
Irish Lawmaker Urges Stripe to Flout US Sanctions on UN Investigator Albanese
Irish MEP Barry Andrews has publicly urged Stripe co‑founders John and Patrick Collison to enable payments for UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese outside the United States, despite U.S. sanctions against her. The sanctions, imposed by the Trump administration after Albanese...
EU Staff Banned From Using AI-Generated Content in Official Communications
The European Commission, Parliament and Council have instituted a blanket ban on the use of fully AI‑generated videos and images in official communications, allowing only AI‑assisted enhancements such as image up‑scaling. The policy is designed to safeguard the credibility of...
US Pressures Brussels to Join AI Chips Club
The United States is urging the European Union to join Pax Silica, a Washington‑led club aimed at safeguarding AI‑related semiconductor and mineral supply chains against China. EU officials stalled formal talks on membership, even as Sweden and Greece signed the...
From Hitler to ‘Pinocchio’: Germany’s Speech Laws Collide with Satire
German police opened investigations after historian Rainer Zitelmann reposted a photo of Adolf Hitler wearing a swastika armband, a symbol banned under Germany’s criminal code. Similar probes targeted journalist Jan Fleischhauer for satirically referencing a Nazi slogan and a retiree who...
Elon Musk’s X Cooperates with €120M EU Fine
Elon Musk’s X has satisfied the European Commission’s deadline for the €120 million fine imposed under the Digital Services Act. The company either paid the fine or provided a financial guarantee while continuing its appeal at the EU’s top court. X...
US Committee Demands Big Tech Share Private Comms with EU Officials
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee sent letters to ten major tech firms, demanding they preserve and produce all communications with European Commission officials related to the EU Digital Services Act, including auto‑deleting messages. The subpoena, issued in February, targets companies...
Brussels Starts Caring About Startups — Finally!
The European Commission is set to unveil the EU Inc. proposal, a sweeping plan that would let founders register a company in under two days for a maximum of €100, entirely online, and launch EU‑wide employee stock‑option schemes. The initiative...
Belgian Authorities Mixed up EU Lawmaker with Namesake in Huawei Bribery Probe
Belgian prosecutors admitted they mistakenly implicated EU lawmaker Daniel Attard in a Huawei bribery probe, confusing him with a Maltese businessman of the same name. The error surfaced after the MEP asked for a double‑check of the suspect’s identity. The...
EU to Respond ‘Firmly and Proportionately’ to Any Breach of US Trade Deal
The European Union announced it will respond "firmly and proportionately" to any breach of the U.S.-EU trade deal signed at the Turnberry resort. This statement follows the United States' Section 301 investigations that could lead to new tariffs on EU goods....
EU Set to Ban AI Nudification Apps in Wake of Grok Scandal
The European Union is poised to outlaw AI‑driven nudification tools after the Grok scandal, where X’s chatbot generated millions of non‑consensual sexual deepfakes, including child images. A proposal slated for approval by EU ambassadors would criminalize marketing any AI system...