European Union: Positive News

[A_Gupta]

https://www.politico.eu/article/romania ... ge-simion/
Pro-EU moderate Nicușor Dan wins Romanian presidential election stunner
Bucharest mayor fends off challenge from hard-right firebrand George Simion, who conceded defeat after initially declaring himself the winner.

[Amber G.]

^^^x post - From Math dhaga:
Nicușor Daniel Dan , Romania's new president won IMO (International Math Olympiads) gold medals in two years (and perfect scores.) Probably a first.

[chetak]

some weeks since France condemned their main opposition leader to

- 2 years jail

- 2 years with electronic bracelet monitoring

- 100,000 EUR fine

- 5 yr ban on elections

Not a squeak for democracy rating agencies or global media

Imagine the outcry if this was India

[Kanoji]

some weeks since France condemned their main opposition leader to

- 2 years jail

- 2 years with electronic bracelet monitoring

- 100,000 EUR fine

- 5 yr ban on elections

Not a squeak for democracy rating agencies or global media

Imagine the outcry if this was India

"Western democracy" at work!!!

[ricky_v]

meaning of the names of some european nations, thought it was neat, did not really know that the franks were predominantly javelin throwers to have that name stuck onto that entire tribe, similar to how the germanic tribe of anglisch were predominantly fishers, and would eventually give name to the anglo

[Manish_P]

' so the Swedish and the Finns are just swedish and finnish...

Who are the 'Assemblers' - Iran (Persians)?

[Cyrano]

Marine le Pen was convicted by courts along with a bunch of other people from her party for using EU funds to employ people who worked for her party. She could still appeal the decision. The sentence is quite harsh but she never disputed the facts leading to her conviction.

Is this a witch hunt? May be, but I don't have much sympathy for her and her party. They are a set up to win/score high in the first round and then the centrists and leftys will raise the bogey of extreme right wing and secure their win in the second round as usual. Le Pen is no paragon of virtue, and she and her party are incompetent to lead.

[drnayar]

"Western democracy" at work!!!

just put pappu , paapi etc through the works .. and see the termites come out of the wood work

[ricky_v]

' so the Swedish and the Finns are just swedish and finnish...

Who are the 'Assemblers' - Iran (Persians)?

i believe finn is from an old norse word finnr, meaning wanderer, they are also referred to as sami which is what the indigenous people of finalnd call themselves, could not find the meaning of swedish

skillful assemblers might refer to iranians given the iraq is mentioned in the map, since antiquity times, the persians have been called out for focusing on form over function, i believe even megasthenes mentions the same

[Manish_P]

i believe finn is from an old norse word finnr, meaning wanderer, they are also referred to as sami which is what the indigenous people of finalnd call themselves, could not find the meaning of swedish
...

From google -

The Swedes (Swedish: svear; Old Norse: svíar, Old English: Swēon) were a North Germanic tribe who inhabited Svealand ("land of the Swedes") in central Sweden. Along with Geats and Gutes, they were one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes. They had their tribal centre in Gamla Uppsala.

The Roman historian Tacitus was the first to write about the tribe in his Germania from AD 98, referring to them as the Suiones. Locally, they are possibly first mentioned by the Kylver Stone in the 4th century. Jordanes, in the 6th century, mentions Suehans and Suetidi. These names likely derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *s(w)e, meaning "one's own". Beowulf mentions the Swedes around 1000 A.D.

[vera_k]

Europe’s Crackdown on Speech Goes Far and Wide

Lucy Connolly, a 41-year-old nanny in central England, has been in jail now for more than 330 days because of a message she posted on X.

Her sentence was longer than many of the rioters themselves sentenced for criminal damage such as smashing up cars. “Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some pedophiles and domestic abusers get,” said her husband, Ray Connolly.

[ricky_v]

From google -


The Roman historian Tacitus was the first to write about the tribe in his Germania from AD 98, referring to them as the Suiones. Locally, they are possibly first mentioned by the Kylver Stone in the 4th century. Jordanes, in the 6th century, mentions Suehans and Suetidi. These names likely derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *s(w)e, meaning "one's own". Beowulf mentions the Swedes around 1000 A.D.

many thanks

[SRajesh]

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/n ... 2025-07-16
Here we go Rutte the "Pet Pooch" of DJT ( Remember he called DJT as Daddy) now issuing ultimatum like his master!!
All reminiscent of the Post WWII arm twisting and running down Russian Oil Industry sales.
Tarrifs and their power.
Who stands to gain here us or EU.
Patently brow beating us to accept FTD like Unkil's
Why do I feel that there is more to this than just Rus and Oil and Trade??
Is there a concerted efforts to weaken us and more specifically hit MAD trio
So that the 'Entitled Emptyhead' can be annointed the PM and the modern Colonial loot can begin.

[A_Gupta]

Not positive news, but where is the EU thread?

Gujarat refinery hit by EU’s new Russia sanctions; India says double standards

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 47914.html

[gakakkad]

Not positive news, but where is the EU thread?

Gujarat refinery hit by EU’s new Russia sanctions; India says double standards

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 47914.html

It's the right thread lol...

Dimaag khallas announces "take that you willey baniyas , ill sanction the refinery you guys use to sell us refined petrochemicals"

[ricky_v]

https://archive.is/wD0Bz

Can europe escape the tech dominancy of the us? i highly doubt so, it is not difficult but rather a sisyphean task to make your own infra and move everything onto it, without even accounting for the gap in innovation while they are trying to do so given limited resources, manpower, the barrier becomes more impenetrable with every passing day, the best time for such measures was yesterday or maybe 15 years back, now it would be more apt to put this task to hercules himself for execution

the eu has started to sound remarkably like the pakis, "we will institute a commission, we will set up a fact finding" and voila, the problems are solved... maybe they need more regulations and red tapes to protect their curated european garden

Trump has fuelled anxiety among European governments and companies over privacy and data access and prompted concerns that the US could suspend or block the operations of US tech companies in Europe altogether.
Those operations are both deep and wide. Amazon, Microsoft and Google control more than two-thirds of the European cloud computing market. Google and Apple prevail in the mobile phone operating systems in the EU, while Google dominates the global search market. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the leading artificial intelligence chatbot in Europe, while the social media platforms that millions of Europeans use are mostly US-owned.

Just as in defence, the transatlantic tech dependency has become a geopolitical liability, amplifying long-standing calls for Europe to invest more and even favour its own companies in procurement. In a symbolic nod to the new realisation, Henna Virkkunen, who started in December as the EU’s new tech commissioner — has the moniker “tech sovereignty” added to her title.
The Finnish politician wants to focus on Europe’s independence in areas such as quantum computing, AI and semiconductors. “These are identified as critical technologies and it’s important that we build up our own capacities here,” she told the Financial Times this month.

France’s Mistral AI is an example of Europe’s wider struggles to capitalise on promising starts in next-generation technology.
Once hailed as a potential global leader in AI, it has lost ground to US rivals backed by Big Tech groups and, like many others, was taken aback by the capability of China’s DeepSeek. Meanwhile, the bloc is struggling to balance the challenge of regulating AI with the need to attract enough investment and talent to increase the computing capacity in the bloc.


That leads directly back to cloud computing, an immediate priority when it comes to reducing reliance on US tech groups. As more governments, companies and citizens move data from on-premise servers to a cloud-based environment, data centres and their associated cabling have become critical infrastructure for modern life.
US companies dominate the European cloud market, prompting worries among European policymakers and industry leaders that US law, particularly the Cloud Act, could embolden the Trump administration to exert more leverage over European data — even if it is stored on servers located in Europe.
That is worrisome because Washington has also moved from complaining about EU regulation and enforcement actions on tech to challenging those decisions and “coupling that with threats around tariffs, sometimes even tying it to security decisions that could negatively impact the continent”, says Zach Meyers, of the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE) think-tank.
Key institutions, including the European Commission, are now in talks with players such as OVHcloud to transition some of their cloud services away from US companies in order to enhance Europe’s digital autonomy.

While he refrained from confirming he would push for such clauses in the forthcoming cloud initiative, Séjourné did say that action was needed in areas in the private sector where Europe was totally dependent on one country, arguing that “in tech, we’re very, very dependent on the Americans”.
Marc Ferracci, the French industry minister, has been more specific, telling reporters that “Buy European” clauses should be applied to critical industries, adding that for him “cloud data centres, especially server infrastructure, is such a critical industry”.

Faced with the prospect of the playing field being tilted away from them, Big Tech is putting up a fight. In recent months, Microsoft, Google and Amazon have all announced so-called sovereign cloud offerings, designed to keep data and operational control within a specific geography, to reassure their European customers.
Microsoft’s top legal officer previously told the FT that if necessary, the company would take the US government to court to protect European customers’ access to its services, positioning itself as a “source of digital stability during a period of geopolitical volatility”.
Google is rolling out “air-gapped” solutions — where a client’s data does not have to be connected to other networks — and beefing up its sovereign cloud options in the EU. Amazon has introduced new sovereign controls and established independent governance for its European organisation.

In private conversations, several Big Tech lobbyists and executives also express confidence in their ability to continue dominating the European market given the paucity of homegrown alternatives and the lack of urgency among many consumers.
For Roure, of the CCIA, real sovereignty is more about managing dependencies by expanding free choice. “The true priority should be avoiding [a situation where] European users are locked in by a single cloud vendor and ensuring healthy competition — not forcing the use of certain companies at the expense of efficiency.”

But Big Tech’s latest initiatives have been met with some scepticism. Von Thun, at the Open Markets Institute, calls them “sovereignty washing” and warns Europeans “not to trust or treat it as a substitute for the actions needed to ensure true digital sovereignty”.

But investment is a key stumbling block to achieving those goals, even if more public procurement favoured European tech companies. EuroStack argues that investment of €300bn is needed over the next decade. Other estimates put the amount as high as €5tn.

Even if the EU could pool public and private financing to boost its digital infrastructure, as officials and researchers have argued it should, that risks taking too much time or not materialising at all.
The obvious example of this, cited so frequently it has turned into a cliché, is the Franco-German Gaia-X initiative, a network of linked cloud providers that hoped to challenge US cloud dominance in Europe.
“The EU has tried to use industrial policy in things like cloud computing in the past and they have been thoroughly unsuccessful,” says Meyers, of the CERRE think-tank. “The idea that we just need to try again but try harder seems to me an idea that requires a bit more scrutiny.”

“What we lack is not chips and data centres,” said Christian Klein, chief executive of Germany’s SAP, Europe’s biggest software group, on a recent call with reporters.
“We are lacking the people and the talent who can apply AI in the context of what we need in Europe.”
Other European officials and diplomats stress that the bloc is set to tread more cautiously. But as on the issue of defence spending, the tanker is slowly turning. “Europe sometimes wakes up late, but when it is awake, things happen,” says another senior EU official of the tech sovereignty debate.
Revcolevschi agrees. “This is truly on the agenda of our leaders,” he says, adding that increased awareness among chief executives and top politicians is now cascading down the decision-making ladder.
“Cloud, AI, digital . . . like defence, these are the dynamics for the next 20 years.”

they have talked bigly, the proof of the pudding though as ever would lay in its eating

[ricky_v]

https://www.compactmag.com/article/how- ... ean-dream/

Theorists of EU hegemony such as Colombia law professor Anu Bradford even dreamed of a “regulatory superpower”—a trading bloc that could impose its trading standards on the rest of the world. The European Union may not have a defense ministry, but its officials could pride themselves on the world-beating expertise of their trade lawyers, negotiating teams, and regulatory experts.

The Trump trade deal shatters this image. Not only is Europe militarizing in order to support the NATO proxy war in Ukraine, it is substituting its dependence on Russian gas for more expensive American LNG, while at the same time supporting the US military-industrial complex through its collective purchases. The smug belief of EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič that he would be able to wrap Trump up in red tape has been rudely torn down. More to the point, how can the European Union justify its existence if it cannot even deliver on its essential purpose: strengthening the economic position of its member-states by unifying them into a trading bloc? The trade deal is a personal humiliation for EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, not least because she has centralized so much power in her own hands, making it harder to avoid responsibility for collective outcomes such as this.

Looking to the future, the trade deal will not only gnaw away at the European Union’s industrial competitiveness with high energy costs and military dependence on US arms factories, it will eat away at the rationale for the European Union itself. Brexit Britain, supposedly destined for economic oblivion once it left the bloc in 2020, only endures a 10 percent baseline tariff in its trade with the United States, while also having the flexibility to sign large new trade deals with emerging economies such as India. As the burden of the US tariffs, LNG and compulsory arms purchases accumulates, member-states will increasingly ask themselves whether the relative advantage of remaining in the EU is outweighed by the benefits of leaving.

Despite all the utopian dreams of European federalists, the strongest case for the European Union was never that it would become a superpower on the level of the United States or China, but that it would be a wealthy, stable trading bloc that could turn its enormous economic weight into market power. While Brussels knew it could never wield the strategic influence or military might of Washington, its bureaucrats and lawyers prided themselves on their soft power, which allowed them to influence trade law and global regulations. In contrast to the Americans’ nation-building crusades in the Middle East, the European Union expanded its borders in the 2000s by absorbing and reforming the states of the defunct Eastern bloc. This was achieved without conquest or brute force, but through a slow process of institutional alignment, assimilation, capacity-building and legal reforms.

posted not so much for newsworthiness but for the approach in the philosophy of eu politics, a weird sentiment that every other nation was clamouring for the sweet release of the walled garden approach, all it availed them was their own conquest and subjugation, now left to necessarily purchase weapons not even from within but abroad, the question is how long will the member states stay in this together-we-lose proposition, will france, italy and to some extents spain and sweden dismantle their internal military industry so as to fuel the us beast, chiefly on the behalf of germans

[A_Gupta]

I don't think Europe plans on dismantling their internal military infrastructure. The point is that they have to increase spending immediately, and the capacity expansion of their industry will take time. In the meantime, buy from the Americans.

But European weapons industry is booming.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/germany ... going.html
Germany’s defense industry is booming. Here’s where its weapons are going

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defenc ... r-footing/
France’s defence industry moves toward war footing
Increased defence spending having an effect on companies converting from declining sectors like automobiles

Denmark's new air defense purchases:
https://defence-industry.eu/denmark-sel ... ent-drive/

Specifically, Denmark will acquire the IRIS-T SLM system from German company Diehl Defence, the VL MICA system from MBDA France, and lease the NASAMS system from Norwegian firm Kongsberg.

[ricky_v]

thank you for the links A_Gupta ji, please find the archived version of those as were paywalled for me:

https://archive.is/KPk8n

According to the German government’s most recent export log , 80% of arms exports were to “close partner countries” during the first quarter of 2025. These include nations within the EU and beyond, including Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore and Ukraine. The remaining 20% of exports were to “other third countries.” Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs does not name these, but told CNBC that Qatar and Israel are major players in this category.

Think tank SIPRI notes that between 2020-2024, Germany was the world’s fifth-largest exporter of major arms. Its three largest markets over the period were Ukraine (19%), Egypt (19%) and Israel (11%).

SIPRI also reveals the types of major arms sold by German companies: over the past five years, 41% were ships, followed by armoured vehicles at 16%, missiles at 11%, and engines at 9.5%. Here’s a look at some of Germany’s biggest defense companies by market cap — and where their exports go. Rheinmetall Rheinmetall, which specializes in weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles, is Germany’s largest defense company and is deeply embedded in the European defense system.

According to the company’s 2024 annual report , just over a third of its sales were domestic, with the rest of Europe accounting for 46.6%, Asia and the Middle East accounting for 9.6% of sales, the Americas 7.7%, and other regions (“above all Australia”) 5.8%. MTU Aero Engines MTU Aero Engines , which creates engines for civil and military aircraft, saw a more-than 13% jump in revenue in its military division in 2024. A main source of sales was EJ200 engines that power the Eurofighter Jet, used by European, Kuwaiti, Omani, and Saudi air forces .

In a geographical breakdown of MTU’s 2024 revenues, which include civil and military, North America accounted for 70% of sales. In second place was Germany, then Asia and the rest of Europe. MTU’s military business is mostly focused on Germany and Europe, a company spokesperson told CNBC. Hensoldt Hensoldt went public in 2020 after spinning off from Airbus. A specialist in electronic defense and sensor technology, the CEO said in his annual shareholder letter that the company continues to see strong demand amid the war in Ukraine, crises in the Middle East and threat from China. “The demand is globally increasing, but with a very high increase from Germany and Europe”, Hensoldt’s CFO Christian Ladurner told CNBC earlier this year. Breaking down Hensoldt’s 2024 revenue , 87.8% came from Europe, 3.7% from the Middle East, 3.5% from APAC, 2.6% from North America and 2.2% from Africa. Renk Augsburg-based Renk creates gearboxes for military vehicles, including tanks and naval vessels.

The company says it supplies equipment to over 70 land forces around the world, including the EU, NATO, South Korea, India, and Israel and others. It also supplies the marines of over 40 naval forces. In its 2024 annual report , total revenue came in at 1.14 billion euros. Germany accounted for 27% of sales, the U.S. 20% and South Korea 11%. Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) Industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp is Germany’s largest steel producer, and its subsidiary ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is a major player in defense. Just under 30% of TKMS sales in the first half of this financial year were to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, while a similar amount went to the rest of Western Europe. South America accounted for 18%, and the Middle East and Africa, 15%. Political controversy Germany’s growing role in the global arms trade has not been devoid of controversy, however. Politicians have raised concerns over the country’s exports to Israel given allegations of human rights abuses in Gaza. Germany has historically been a staunch supporter of Israel given Germany’s role in the Holocaust.

In May , Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul appeared open to the idea of reviewing weapons exports to Israel, although he told CNBC at the recent NATO summit that arms sales to Israel will continue. German companies exporting to Israel include TKMS, which built the Israeli Navy’s Sa’ar 6 frigates , and Renk and MTU , which supply parts for Israeli Merkava tanks. German exports to Ukraine have also been a source of controversy.

Germany’s defense sector is growing as increasing geopolitical tensions have led to a surge in orders. The value of German military exports hit 13.2 billion euros ($15.5 billion) last year, according to preliminary figures — more than double 2020′s 5.82 billion euros

https://archive.is/mjxWY

The French defence budget is set to reach €67.5 billion in 2030, up from €50.5 billion this year. President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly emphasised that the entire sector should expect a “significant” increase in public orders - welcome news for French defence manufacturers, although the funding remains far from resolved.

As the European Commission unveiled its plan yesterday to raise €800 billion for defence through loans and debt, French defence companies need to coordinate at the continental level, said Jacques, the French MP.
“Coordinating the production of new weapons at the continental level will, contrary to what some may think, help to grow the French industry,” he said. “We can easily imagine French groups setting up factories in other European countries, just as foreign companies could establish themselves in France.”
For now, the European defence industrial and technological base accounts for 33% of global arms exports, including American companies that manufacture on the continent.

all said, it may not be necessary that the eu countries may buy from us currently, see below where spain has soundly renounced the purchase of f-35

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 025-08-06/

Spain is no longer considering the option of buying U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets and is choosing between European-made Eurofighter and the so-called Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a defence ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
El Pais newspaper had reported earlier on Wednesday the government had shelved plans to buy the F-35, which is manufactured by U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin

[uddu]

German economy shrank by 0.3% in second quarter in worse showing than initially thought
Official data shows the German economy shrank by 0.3% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period
https://apnews.com/article/germany-econ ... 45144defc2

BERLIN (AP) — The German economy shrank by 0.3% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period, official data showed Friday, a significantly worse showing than was initially reported as tensions with the U.S. over tariffs simmered.

In a preliminary report at the end of July, the Federal Statistical Office said gross domestic product contracted by 0.1% in April-June compared with the first quarter for Europe’s biggest economy. That contributed to a lackluster showing for the 20-nation eurozone.

Full data showed output in manufacturing and the construction industry was worse than expected in June and household spending for the quarter also was revised downward, the office said Friday. The decline followed growth of 0.3% in the first quarter.

The German economy has shrunk for the past two years. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s administration has made revitalizing it a top priority since taking office May 6.

It has launched a program to encourage investment and set up a 500 billion-euro ($582 billion) fund to pour money into Germany’s creaking infrastructure over the next 12 years. It is promising to cut red tape and speed up the country’s lagging digitization.

A group of dozens of companies last month pledged to invest at least 631 billion euros ($731.7 billion) in Germany over the next three years, a figure that included some previously planned investments but was designed to send a signal of confidence in the economy.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski said “after the surge in economic activity resulting from the U.S. front-loading of German exports in the first quarter, the economy experienced a reversal of the front-loading effect, and the first full-blown impact of U.S. tariffs (implemented in the second quarter) took effect.”

It could “take until next year before a more substantial recovery starts to unfold,” he said.

A European Union-U.S. trade deal was reached last month but remains a work in progress.

[uddu]

Finland President Alexander Stubb Speaks With PM Modi On Bilateral Ties

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb held a telephonic conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations. The discussion focused on trade, technology, renewable energy, and global geopolitical developments. Both leaders emphasized the importance of cooperation in defense, clean energy, and innovation. This call comes amid growing strategic engagement between Europe and India as they seek to enhance security, economic partnerships, and climate-friendly initiatives.

Finnish President is a Golf buddy to Trump. Hope he is not calling to convey Trump asking Modi to pick up the phone.
How Finland’s President Became Trump’s Go-To EU Ally | WSJ

Finland joined NATO after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, breaking decades of neutrality. Finnish President Alexander Stubb has become one of Trump's favorite European confidantes and has even been involved in diplomatic discussions ahead of the high-stakes meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin.

[Vayutuvan]

@uddu avargal, thanks for a series of informative posts and YT links across all threads where you posted.

[uddu]

@uddu avargal, thanks for a series of informative posts and YT links across all threads where you posted.

Thank you Vayutuvan Garu

[Cyrano]

The economies of Germany, UK and France are fracked. Looks like poor global south countries will be facing stiff competition from UK and EU countries for IMF bailouts.

[uddu]

Denmark Summons US Envoy over “Covert Influence Ops” in Greenland

Greenland is back in the spotlight. A shocking new report by Denmark's national broadcaster accuses three Trump-linked Americans of conducting covert influence operations on the icy island. Denmark has summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen for answers. From secret recruitment lists to strategic resource deals, this story involves intelligence tactics, political manipulation, and a long-standing ambition by Donald Trump to "get" Greenland.

[uddu]

France on the Brink: PM Bayrou Faces Ouster as Debt Crisis Deepens | Vantage with Palki Sharma |N18G

France is staring down yet another political meltdown. Prime Minister François Bayrou has called for a confidence vote on September 8, after unveiling a deeply unpopular $51 billion budget plan. From scrapping public holidays to freezing welfare, the proposals have triggered mass protests and united opposition parties across the spectrum. With debt and deficit figures among the highest in Europe and a weak 0.8% growth forecast, the country can barely afford more instability. But a second political crisis in under a year now seems inevitable. Will Bayrou survive the vote? What happens to France’s economy if he doesn’t?

[Cyrano]

France's elitist political class is ruining the country with it's harebrained policies. They want everyone to make an effort except themselves.

An example: Ex President François Hollande takes home a cool 300K€ EVERY MONTH TAX FREE as retirement benefits for all the govt jobs and elected offices he held over the years.

French people have been taking a lot of cr@p for the past several years. 25-26 will be a year of revolution IMO. And for Marie Antoinettes that have infested the political class, it won't be pretty.