Brussels might seem empty, but high-stakes games are afoot behind the scenes. From air-conditioned government suites (and the occasional vacation villa), leaders are working the phones, trying to convince European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to give their country the most prestigious posts in the EU executive. In this week’s edition of EU Confidential podcast, host … Read more
This is just the latest episode in an ongoing fight between Macron’s camp and the National Rally over the president’s powers, with the far-right party arguing that it should be up to the next government to appoint key officials. Over the past days, Macron appointed several top officials in France and pushed for his allies … Read more
The US tech giant rolled out the option after the European Union’s top court ruled Meta must first get consent before showing ads to users, in a decision that threatened its business model of tailoring ads based on individual users’ online interests and digital activity. Meta’s model does not allow users to exercise their right … Read more
In recent days, the National Rally and Macron have been publicly fighting about who will get to decide what after the election — including on defense policy and the pick for next EU commissioner. While Bardella explicitly said he wanted to have a say on the name of the future French commissioner, Macron is already … Read more
“The constitutional ambiguity would block decision-making,” said Landot. No holds barred Since the election of dozens of National Rally lawmakers in the last parliamentary election, the far-right lawmakers have been far from wreckers, refraining from the filibustering and noisy heckling favored by the far-left France Unbowed party. At times, Macron’s centrists were embarrassed by National … Read more
In 2020, Trump was blocked by the courts in his bid to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat, a unit of Tencent, in the United States. 02:15 Singaporeans fume over US lawmaker grilling of TikTok CEO Singaporeans fume over US lawmaker grilling of TikTok CEO Chew added: “Make no mistake – this is a ban on … Read more
“A big part of it is the arrogance of power,” the EU official continued. “She mistakenly thought she could get away with everything. So some smaller mistakes are now being used against her.” Like other officials quoted in this article, the EU official was granted anonymity to speak freely about the powerful German politician within the … Read more
The European Parliament is planning to vote on a an amendment to rescind Markus Pieper’ s appointment on Thursday | European Parliament 99 problems The so-called “Piepergate” affair adds to a growing list of potential problems for von der Leyen as she seeks a second term. It comes just days after POLITICO revealed that the … Read more
Some large social media, including Facebook, have been singled out for lacking enough content moderation in less-spoken European languages like Slovak. X, which is already under formal investigation, has slashed its content moderation teams. Under the DSA, major online companies have to meet wide-ranging requirements to crack down on illegal and harmful content, including with … Read more
Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms will be investigated for potential breaches of the EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA), European antitrust regulators said on Monday, potentially leading to hefty fines for the companies. The European Union law, effective from March 7, aims to challenge the power of the tech giants by making it easier … Read more
