EU

Everyone knows by now that Europe is rearming. That part is easy to write and carries almost nothing, because “investing in defence” survives any amount of vagueness. The interesting reading sits a little lower down, in the documents that have to name things: how much money, raised in what way, spent on what, through which legal route, under whose command. Those are harder to write and harder to take back, because somebody has to act on them. Read side by side, they sketch a shape, and the shape says more than the announcements do. ...

A policy speech says what an institution wants to be seen wanting. A procurement document records what it has agreed to pay for. The two are not the same, and the gap between them is usually the more interesting reading. A press release costs nothing to write and binds no one. A call for tender names a budget, a deadline, a set of deliverables and a contract that someone will sign and then have to deliver against. Intentions are cheap. Commitments leave a paper trail, because somebody has to do the work and somebody has to account for the money. ...

The story is, on paper, narrow. Solvinity, the Dutch contractor that operates infrastructure underneath Logius and DigiD, looks set to be acquired by Kyndryl, an American spin-off of IBM’s managed-services arm. DigiD itself remains owned by the Dutch state via Logius, so technically the system is still Dutch. Politically and operationally, the distinction does not calm many people down. A rented engine room is still part of the ship. Across Europe there has been a push for “digital sovereignty”, meaning less dependency on American hyperscalers and infrastructure providers after years of quietly outsourcing half the state to Silicon Valley with the serene confidence of a man juggling chainsaws because the first three catches worked out fine. ...

An uncomfortable truth: Every byte uploaded to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud isn’t just data, it’s cloud capital. Coined by economist Yanis Varoufakis, the term captures how tech giants transform your digital activity into privatised infrastructure. It’s not merely about hosting files; it’s about hoarding power. And right now, the US holds the keys, turning Europe into a lodger in its digital manor. But there is an alternative: cloud-on-prem, a return to digital self-sufficiency, and European providers like Hetzner, who offer control, compliance, and a way to starve the beast. Think of it less as going backwards and more as refusing to pay rent to your colonial landlord. ...

Europe likes to think it is safe and secure. In reality, much of its critical infrastructure is running on borrowed time. Old systems, fragmented responsibility, and perverse incentives have left a security debt that, if left unpaid, could affect millions of lives. Some sectors carry heavier debt than others, and the consequences of ignoring it grow by the day. Healthcare, energy, and transport carry the heaviest burdens. The patient-facing nightmare Hospitals and clinics are the most visible examples of this precarious state. Every day, lives depend on machines and systems conceived in a different era, when floppy disks were a mark of sophistication. Many hospitals run EHRs, imaging machines, and ICU monitors on unsupported systems, often unaware which devices are networked. Vendors supplying medical technology have rarely been held accountable for security, and procurement contracts tend to value cost or certification above protection against cyberattacks. ...

We often think of democratic deficits as abstract, something that lives in Brussels conference rooms and academic papers. But in practice, power without accountability isn’t just theoretical. It shows up in the bills you pay, the apps you use, the water you drink, and the politicians you never seem to be able to reach. Here’s how it plays out across key sectors: Climate and energy, lofty goals, murky delivery Europe’s climate policy is a paradox: ambitious in targets, opaque in implementation. ...

Europe does not lack power. It lacks responsibility. From national governments to supranational institutions, boardrooms to bureaucracies, decisions are made daily that affect millions. And yet, ask the average citizen who actually decided to privatise their rail service, greenlight a mega-merger, or rubber-stamp a controversial directive, and you’ll be met with a shrug. Somewhere, a meeting happened. A hand was raised. And life changed, with no one to call, no one to vote out, and no one who seems particularly bothered either way. ...

The European Democracy Shield (EUDS), a name that practically screams “importance”, if not effectiveness. One imagines a shining bulwark of European resolve, standing firm against the onslaught of foreign interference, disinformation, and creeping authoritarianism. In practice, though, we might be dealing with something rather less heroic: an ambitious framework coated in Brussels gloss, promising much, delivering… well, that remains to be seen. The EUDS: idealism or institutional theatre? On paper, the European Democracy Shield is a bold step. It claims to offer a in-depth defence of democratic norms, combining regulation of digital spaces, protection for media, and support for civil society into one elegant package. But the EU is no stranger to bold declarations. The question is whether this will be another statement of intent with no meaningful enforcement, or something that actually holds the line. ...

Neoliberalism crept into Europe wearing a sharp suit and talking about efficiency. It promised a leaner, meaner state, less red tape, more growth, and a brighter future. What it delivered was stagnant wages, crumbling services, and Jeff Bezos in a rocket. For Europe, the cost has been clear: growing inequality, weakened public institutions, and a sense that someone, somewhere, has sold the family silver, and is now renting it back to us with interest. ...

European democracy, once sold to us as government for the people, increasingly resembles government for the shareholders. The slogans haven’t changed, “freedom”, “fairness”, “choice”, but behind the scenes, the boardroom has quietly replaced the ballot box as the place where real decisions are made. It’s not that politicians have stopped caring what the public thinks. It’s just that donors, lobbyists, and corporate advisors tend to shout louder, and arrive with champagne. ...