Boosted by @trending@homestead.social
Ursula Von der Leyen is just starting her #StateOfTheEU speech (#SOTEU) with "It was the best of times it was the worst of times"
Oh brother
Liveposting the SOTEU here
Remote
Jordan Maris 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 #NAFO
@jmaris@eupolicy.social
mastodon 4.6.9#EU Policy Analyst for the #OpenSource Initiative. Former EU Parliament Assistant. Expert in 💻Digital, 🚄Transport, and 🧪Research Policy. #fedi22 #EU #tech #ukraine #foreignpolicy Find out about my work at @policy@social.opensource.org
2472 Followers
1597 Following
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Joined October 31, 2022
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Boosted by @trending@homestead.social
Replying to
@hpod16@eupolicy.social I don't disagree about the problem, and I think I'm one of the rare privacy advocates who could actually be okay with age verification for social media, provided it is implemented as set out in the European Digital Identity so that it uses zero-knowledge proof: this means that nobody can no which sites you have provided proof of age to, and those sites don't get to know who you are.
Unfortunately we are still waiting for implementation of this. #privacy #ageverification #kidsact
Whoever is responsible for the organisation of operations at #Frankfurt am Main airport should never be in charge of anything ever again.
Kilometer-Long Queues backing into the terminal to go through immigration, with all the automated kiosks out of service.
Half-manned immigration checkpoints spread around the terminal with no information.
Carts constantly driving at speed through busy concourses.
It's got to be the worst airport I've ever flown to.
#EEES #Airport
US before: what if we arm the Taliban to fight the Soviets?
US now: what if we give a brutal theocracy everything it needs to build nukes so it can fight another brutal theocracy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/23/what-is-the-us-saudi-arabia-nuclear-power-deal-explained
I am exhausted by the moronic behaviour of western academics who say nothing about Russia's bombing and murder of tens of the thousands of civilians, but scream the moment Ukraine fights back
‘Morale bombing’ Moscow is not justified | Ukraine | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/25/morale-bombing-moscow-is-not-justified
Years of fear-mongering about what the #Mercosur deal would mean for our food supply, and then reality hits: when Brazilian meat doesn't meet our standards, we don't import it.
What #Ukraine is doing in #Crimea now is beyond incredible. They have systemically hit refineries and fuel transport infrastructure.
They have hit all the bridges entering Crimea from Southern Ukraine. They have hit all the ferries transporting goods in and out of Crimea.
And today they hit the air defences that protect the Kerch Bridge.
They are making Crimea intenable for the Russians, and isolating Russian Units in Occupied Ukraine.
#RussiaUkraineWar
Replying to
The ministerial EU meeting on #Ceuta has just finished, and Spain has come out of it in a very good position.
"We commend #Spain for their swift response to the situation in #Ceuta and extend our deepest condolences for the tragic loss of life."
"communication [..] could further be reinforced [..] and [..] more coherent, especially to counter malicious external actors engaged in foreign information manipulation and interference"
tl;dr: "we fucked up"
#EUpolhttps://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/jha/2026/08/04/
Replying to
@hpod16@eupolicy.social I like Aegis!
EUlogin is unfortunately restricted on devices that don't have Google play services, meaning lots of people here can't use it. (It's something we have already raised with the commission).
The chairman of the German far-right party #AfD was seen leaving the Russian embassy in Prague.
How can a party that are so clearly controlled by #Russia be allowed to continue to operate?
#AFDverbot now!
https://denikn.cz/2092589/hvezda-nemecke-afd-se-objevila-na-ruske-ambasade-v-praze/?rtm_source=follow_authors&rtm_medium=email&rtm_campaign=mnt-email.author.article.new-11.06.2026-23&rtm_content=173791
The good news: @europeansleeper's Night Train from Prague to Brussels was comfy. I got a good continuous 5 hours sleep, and the train is sold out and completely full.
Bad news: @db@trains-official.eu Netz did not properly register the train path and reserve the track so we are now two hours late. This service has been running for two years, now.
RE: https://eupolicy.social/@jmaris/116752775146906929
I take it back. I just had an argument in the airport with a British man who insisted EU border controls exist to "punish" the UK.
When I reminded him that you have to be in the European Union to enjoy the benefits of it, he shouted "do you think I'm stupid".
I declined to answer for obvious reasons.
#brexit
In the small town of "La Flèche", whose far right mayor recently removed the European flag from the town hall, activists plastered the front of the town hall in European flags on Europe day.
Replying to
@euval@mastodon.top it absolutely can be stopped by borders, but not borders alone. Development support for countries near our borders, legal migration pathways that are actually accessible, strong border controls with a policy of safe, dignified returns.
All of these are necessities. All start by treating migrants as human beings seeking a better life.
On Europe Day, I wanted to write about the experience that made the European Project so important to me, and why I think it's our greatest strength in the challenging world we live in.
Happy Europe Day! 🇪🇺
https://jmar.is/jekyll/update/2026/05/09/The-Summer-that-made-me-European.html
RE: https://mstdn.social/@pravda/116752251602718523
I visited the Pechersk Lavra in 2024. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I hope they can save the numerous works of art inside and the building.
It stood in Kyiv before Russia even existed. This is yet another attempt to destroy Ukrainian culture and identity.
#Ukraine #Kyiv #Lavra #Russia #EUpol #RussiaUkraineWar #UNESCO
Replying to
@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net but this still might not become law. For it to become law the Council would have to accept the parliament's amended version, and that isn't a sure thing.
If they don't there will be more negotiations and another vote in Parliament.
And this is just for the temporary derogation. By introducing a ban on scanning encrypted communications, the parliament are sending a message that they won't accept scanning of encrypted communications in the permanent regulation either!
We chose Europe because there is a "we": a collective identity that remains hidden from us until we come together, but becomes irreversibly evident when we do. That "we" is our greatest strength. 🇪🇺
It's always the same with the far-right: Freedom of Speech, but only for us!
Far-right French mayor causes outrage after cancelling play about migrant.
Interesting to see Mistral are the closest to not being unprofitable. #AI
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the 🇪🇺
Just watched the finale of #StarCity (the #ForAllMankind spin-off) and damn, if it isn't the best piece of television this year, I don't know what is.
Literally gave me goosebumps.
Replying to
@luminos@eupolicy.social @jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net they will likely convene at the next planned meeting, but @je5perl@eupolicy.social made a really interesting point: for the permanent chat control regulation, the Commission used a treaty provision that would force the council to unanimously adopt the regulation if it contained an exception for encryption.
It will be interesting to see if they do the same with the temporary derogation (as this could make adoption impossible).
Replying to
@wolf480pl@mstdn.io @benroyce@mastodon.social I'm also mega-confused as to why celebrating the fact that trust in the EU is higher than ever before is not a good thing?
If we didn't celebrate successes because some things were not perfect, we'd never celebrate any successes.
Replying to
@Hashira@privacysafe.social yes, but it sets a precedent for chatcontrol 2, and the Council might refuse to adopt it.
In addition, this could neutralise some of the Commission's attempts to undermine the encryption exemption in chatcontrol 2
RE: https://mastodon.social/@Tutanota/116889735116919744
This is not accurate. Chat control 1 has not passed. It still requires approval from the Council. It is currently unclear whether they will approve the parliament version (which was amended today to ban scanning of encrypted messages), or push for more negotiations, meaning another vote will be required in Parliament.
#ChatControl
Quoting
#ChatControl 1.0 HAS PASSED - despite a majority voting against it (314:276) 🚨
After the EU parliament has rejected it TWICE in the past, it has been pushed as an urgent procedure for a new plenary vote. The EU has simply continued to put the vote on the agenda to get the outcome they've wanted since the start.
This is not democratic‼️
📸 Roberta Metsola (EPP) who revived Chat Control 1.0 shaking hands with Mark Zuckerberg. Taken from EP_President posted May 27, 2026 on X.
Replying to
@je5perl@eupolicy.social @thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social exactly, while I do agree that it is likely that the vote could pass, i'd caution against treating it as a foregone conclusion.
Replying to
@thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social to be clear, the vote on extending chat control is on Thursday. The vote today was on if they would vote again on the issue.
Replying to
@wolf480pl@mstdn.io it does! Exactly!
Replying to
@YimbyEarth@mas.to I don't think that Ukraine will try to strike Moscow tomorrow. They will instead take advantage of the fact that Russia has concentrated air defences on Moscow to attack military and industrial targets elsewhere.
Replying to
@webjac@mastodon.social @Javensbukan@cosocial.ca @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu so you love monopolies?
Replying to
@wordmark@mas.to @osi@social.opensource.org this package literally proposes an Open Source maintenance fund. In addition to this, the EU has already been funding many open source projects, including Mastodon, for some time now. They have also pledged to trial Linux internally at the commission.
Replying to
@djembro@universeodon.com A big thank you to you for reading! Did you visit Ukraine in 2023?
My partner was Ukrainian for a long time so I visited twice almost every year until summer 2024. It's a beautiful country with the kindest of people, even in the currently terrible circumstances, and Kyiv is magnificent! I'll definitely be returning there!
Replying to
@wolf480pl@mstdn.io @Veza85UE@eupolicy.social @benroyce@mastodon.social I agree that this approach would be good.
I will say though that we have to take into account the context of disinformation that the EU is facing: if you go on the bird site, you could easily feel as if the EU was a dictatorship only held up by censorship and propaganda.
That isn't true, and that's something we need to communicate.
Replying to
@thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social @je5perl@eupolicy.social that depends on council approval
Replying to
@AngelaCarstensen@norden.social @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu hey @hpod16@eupolicy.social this might be of interest to you!
Replying to
@makeithappen5634@privacysafe.social @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu Who do you think is funding railway and infrastructure upgrades in these "villages where there is 0 thing" ?
Boosted by @MaryAustinBooks@mstdn.social
POV: you just committed to a mario-themed position paper on the #EU's upcoming Cloud & AI development act, and now you are handdrawing Ursula von der Leyen as Mario.
Replying to
@webjac@mastodon.social @Javensbukan@cosocial.ca @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu but how can competitors enter the market if there are no means to compete ?
How can alternative payment providers operate in a duopoly that prohibits competition?
Replying to
@thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social perhaps. Let us see.
Replying to
@polx@mastodon.online @osi@social.opensource.org This post is not specific to a single country, but the point you raise about Play Integrity is a fair one. I'll look into it! 🫡 Thank you for bringing it to my attention
Replying to
@Paul_stilgar@mastodon.social @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu Sur les autres plateformes, il y a des comptes additionnelles pour chaque pays, mais l'équipe Mastodon doit les convaincre tous de rejoindre le fediverse. Ils ont commencé par l'anglais
Replying to
@thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social @je5perl@eupolicy.social voting to vote on something is not the same as voting in favour of it. In similar situations in the past, the far right and socialists have voted in favour of a having a vote only to vote against when the vote happens.
It is political positioning. I don't know if it is the case this time but I wouldn't rule out the possibility.
Replying to
@thatprivacyguy@eupolicy.social @je5perl@eupolicy.social would you look at that, two amendments passed.