Roastidio.us in webspace https://www.politico.eu/

Dutch scandal serves as a warning for Europe over risks of using algorithms – POLITICO

Fri, 15 May 2026 12:15:27 +0000

Dutch scandal serves as a warning for Europe over risks of using algorithms

The Dutch tax authority ruined thousands of lives after using an algorithm to spot suspected benefits fraud — and critics say there is little stopping it from happening again.

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

As the world turns to AI to automate their systems, the Dutch scandal shows how devastating they can be | Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

March 29, 2022 6:14 pm CET

By Melissa Heikkilä

Chermaine Leysner’s life changed in 2012, when she received a letter from the Dutch tax authority demanding she pay back her child care allowance going back to 2008. Leysner, then a student studying social work, had three children under the age of 6. The tax bill was over €100,000.

“I thought, ‘Don’t worry, this is a big mistake.’ But it wasn’t a mistake. It was the start of something big,” she said.

The ordeal took nine years of Leysner’s life. The stress caused by the tax bill and her mother’s cancer diagnosis drove Leysner into depression and burnout. She ended up separating from her children’s father. “I was working like crazy so I could still do something for my children like give them some nice things to eat or buy candy. But I had times that my little boy had to go to school with a hole in his shoe,” Leysner said.

Leysner is one of the tens of thousands of victims of what the Dutch have dubbed the “toeslagenaffaire,” or the child care benefits scandal.

In 2019 it was revealed that the Dutch tax authorities had used a self-learning algorithm to create risk profiles in an effort to spot child care benefits fraud.

Authorities penalized families over a mere suspicion of fraud based on the system’s risk indicators. Tens of thousands of families — often with lower incomes or belonging to ethnic minorities — were pushed into poverty because of exorbitant debts to the tax agency. Some victims committed suicide. More than a thousand children were taken into foster care.

The Dutch tax authorities now face a new €3.7 million fine from the country's privacy regulator. In a statement released April 12, the agency outlined several violations of the EU's data protection rulebook, the General Data Protection Regulation, including not having a legal basis to process people's data and hanging on to the information for too long.

Aleid Wolfsen, the head of the Dutch privacy authority, called the violations unprecedented.

"For over 6 years, people were often wrongly labeled as fraudsters, with dire consequences ... some did not receive a payment arrangement or you were not eligible for debt restructuring. The tax authorities have turned lives upside down," he said, according to the statement.

As governments around the world are turning to algorithms and AI to automate their systems, the Dutch scandal shows just how utterly devastating automated systems can be without the right safeguards. The European Union, which positions itself as the world’s leading tech regulator, is working on a bill that aims to curb algorithmic harms.

But critics say the bill misses the mark and would fail to protect citizens from incidents such as what happened in the Netherlands.

No checks and balances

The Dutch system — which was launched in 2013 — was intended to weed out benefits fraud at an early stage. The criteria for the risk profile were developed by the tax authority, reports Dutch newspaper Trouw. Having dual nationality was marked as a big risk indicator, as was a low income.

Why Leysner ended up in the situation is unclear. One reason could be that she had twins, which meant she needed more support from the government. Leysner, who was born in the Netherlands, also has Surinamese roots.

In 2020, Trouw and another Dutch news outlet, RTL Nieuws revealed that the tax authorities also kept secret blacklists of people for two decades, which tracked both credible and unsubstantiated “signals” of potential fraud. Citizens had no way of finding out why they were on the list or defending themselves.

An audit showed that the tax authorities focused on people with “a non-Western appearance,” while having Turkish or Moroccan nationality was a particular focus. Being on the blacklist also led to a higher risk score in the child care benefits system.

A parliamentary report into the child care benefits scandal found several grave shortcomings, including institutional biases and authorities hiding information or misleading the parliament about the facts. Once the full scale of the scandal came to light, Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government resigned, only to regroup 225 days later.

In addition to the penalty announced April 12, the Dutch data protection agency also fined the Dutch tax administration €2.75 million in December 2021 for the “unlawful, discriminatory and therefore improper manner” in which the tax authority processed data on the dual nationality of child care benefit applicants.

“There was a total lack of checks and balances within every organization of making sure people realize what was going on,” said Pieter Omtzigt, an independent member of the Dutch parliament who played a pivotal role in uncovering the scandal and grilling the tax authorities.

“What is really worrying me is that I’m not sure that we’ve taken even vaguely enough preventive measures to strengthen our institutions to handle the next derailment,” he continued.

The new Rutte government has pledged to create a new algorithm regulator under the country’s data protection authority. Dutch Digital Minister Alexandra van Huffelen — who was previously the finance minister in charge of the tax authority — told POLITICO that the data authority’s role will be “to oversee the creation of algorithms and AI, but also how it plays out when it’s there, how it’s treated, make sure that is human-centered, and that it does apply to all the regulations that are in use.” The regulator will scrutinize algorithms in both the public and private sectors.

Van Huffelen stressed the need to make sure humans are always in the loop. “What I find very important is to make sure that decisions, governmental decisions based on AI are also always treated afterwards by a human person,” she said.

A warning to the rest of Europe

Europe’s top digital official, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, said the Dutch scandal is exactly what every government should be scared of.

“We have huge public sectors in Europe. There are so many different services where decision-making supported by AI could be really useful, if you trust it,” Vestager told the European Parliament in March. The EU’s new AI Act is aimed at creating that trust, she argued, “so that this big public sector market will be open also for artificial intelligence.”

The Commission’s proposal for the AI Act restricts the use of so-called high-risk AI systems and bans certain “unacceptable” uses. Companies providing high-risk AI systems have to meet certain EU requirements. The AI Act also creates a public EU register of such systems in an effort to improve transparency and help with enforcement.

That’s not good enough, argues Renske Leijten, a Socialist member of the Dutch parliament and another key politician who helped uncover the true scale of the scandal. Leijten argues that the AI Act should also apply to those using high-risk AI systems in both the private and public sectors.

In the AI Act, “we see that there are more guarantees for your rights when companies and private enterprises are working with AI. But the important thing we must learn out of the child care benefit scandal is that this was not an enterprise or private sector … This was the government,” she said.

As it is now, the AI Act will not protect citizens from similar dangers, said Dutch Green MEP Kim van Sparrentak, a member of the European Parliament’s AI Act negotiating team on the internal market committee. Van Sparrentak is pushing for the AI Act to have fundamental rights impact assessments that will also be published in the EU’s AI register. Parliament is also proposing adding obligations to the users of high-risk AI systems, including in the public sector.

“Fraud prediction and predictive policing based on profiling should just be banned. Because we have seen only very bad outcomes and not a single person can be determined based on some of their data,” van Sparrentak said.

In a report detailing how the Dutch government used ethnic profiling in the child care benefits scandal, Amnesty International calls on governments to ban the “use of data on nationality and ethnicity when risk-scoring for law enforcement purposes in the search of potential crime or fraud suspects.”

The Netherlands is still reckoning with the aftermath of the scandal. The government has promised to pay back victims of the incident €30,000. But for those like Leysner, that doesn't even begin to cover the years she lost — justice seems like a long way off.

“If you go through things like this, you also lose your trust in the government. So it's very difficult to trust what [authorities] say right now,” Leysner said.

Clothilde Goujard and Vincent Manancourt contributed reporting.

This article has been updated with the results of the Dutch tax authorities’ investigation released in April.

Ukraine rebukes Rheinmetall over CEO’s ‘play with Legos’ drone insult – POLITICO

Fri, 08 May 2026 04:07:18 +0000

Ukraine rebukes Rheinmetall over CEO’s ‘play with Legos’ drone insult

Officials hit back after Armin Papperger calls drone production the work of “housewives” with “3-D printers in the kitchen.”

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger is pictured in Düsseldorf, Germany on March 11, 2026. | Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images

March 29, 2026 7:44 pm CET

By Chris Lunday

BERLIN — The head of German arms maker Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, drew scorn from Ukrainian officials and defense industry figures over the weekend after making dismissive comments about the country’s drone program.

In an interview with The Atlantic published March 27, Papperger dismissed Ukraine’s drone sector as lacking real technological breakthroughs. “This is how to play with Legos,” he said, before questioning: “What is the innovation of Ukraine?” He added that “they don’t have some technological breakthrough.”

Western media, including The Atlantic, have hailed Ukraine's drone program for "ma[king] artillery and armored vehicles look obsolete," while President Zelenskyy has boasted that his country is "building our own arsenal."

But Papperger contended that Ukraine's systems aren't as sophisticated as the products of major Western defense firms. “This is not the technology of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, or Rheinmetall,” he said.

By contrast, Papperger added, Ukraine’s decentralized drone production is amateurish. “It’s Ukrainian housewives,” he said. “They have 3-D printers in the kitchen, and they produce parts for drones … This is not innovation.”

The remarks provoked indignation in Kyiv.

Alexander Kamyshin, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, praised the role of Ukrainian civilians in sustaining wartime production. “I see Ukrainian women working equally with men often enough,” he wrote on X. “They deserve respect.”

Others responded more forcefully. Iaroslav Kalinin, chief executive of Ukrainian defense firm Infozahyst, argued that military innovations should be judged by their effectiveness on the battlefield, not their technological complexity. “A $500 FPV drone that destroys a tank worth millions — that is innovation,” he wrote on Facebook. “Not by your corporate standards, but by the only standard that matters in war — efficiency.”

Kalinin also criticized Western defense companies for what he described as their cautious approach to transferring technology to Kyiv. “We will have our own inventions — not thanks to you, but in spite of you,” he said.

Denis Dovgopoliy, a Ukrainian tech investor, said Papperger’s remarks showed a fundamental misunderstanding of innovation.

The Rheinmetall chief, he wrote on Facebook, has spent decades in an industry where “a product developed 10 years ago is considered innovative,” whereas heavy platforms like tanks “will hardly be used in future wars” — as is “already visible … on the fields of Ukraine.”

He ended with a blunt jab at Papperger: “What can he know about innovation?”

In response, Rheinmetall sought to strike a conciliatory tone in a post on X, saying it has “the utmost respect” for the Ukrainians and their efforts to defend their country. The company praised Ukraine’s “innovative strength” and “fighting spirit,” adding it was “grateful to be able to support” Kyiv with its resources.

Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.

France and UK to co-host talks on securing Strait of Hormuz – POLITICO

Tue, 05 May 2026 05:25:08 +0000

France and UK to co-host talks on securing Strait of Hormuz

The French and the British want to help when the conflict ends.

AI generated Text-to-speech

France's President Emmanuel Macron welcomes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) prior to the leaders-level Coalition of the Willing summit at the Elysee Palace in Paris, January 2026. | Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images

April 14, 2026 1:10 pm CET

By Clea Caulcutt

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-host a videoconference Friday to map out a plan to secure the Strait of Hormuz, their offices said.

The two leaders are to lead talks on forming a "multilateral and purely defensive mission" that would help "restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz when the security conditions allow it," the Elysée Palace said in a statement.

The statement said that "non-belligerent" countries ready to contribute to the mission would participate. Neither London nor Paris specified which other countries are expected to be on the call.

Macron later Tuesday said on X that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday.

After peace talks over the weekend between Tehran and Washington failed to deliver an agreement, Trump said the United States would blockade ships entering or leaving the strait to ratchet up pressure on Iran to strike a deal to curtail its nuclear program and open the vital waterway to maritime traffic.

But France and the U.K. have signaled their disapproval of Trump's latest attempt to strong-arm Iran.

Friday's summit is aimed at "driv[ing] forward the international effort we have built in recent weeks to ensure freedom of navigation," said a spokesperson for the British prime minister. But it's unclear how the Franco-British offer will help dial down tensions.

U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February triggered a regional conflict in the Middle East and brought navigation in the Strait of Hormuz to a virtual standstill, pushing oil and gas prices up across the globe. The two sides agreed to a two-week ceasefire before talks over the weekend of a wider deal fell apart.

Philipp Woldin – POLITICO

Tue, 05 May 2026 01:43:07 +0000

Search for:

POLITICO Pro

Archives for Philipp Woldin

Inside Germany’s far-left war on infrastructure

May 4, 2026 4:00 am CET

Children groomed for murder through video games, Europol warns

November 21, 2025 4:00 am CET

Lennart Pfahler – POLITICO

Tue, 05 May 2026 01:43:06 +0000

Search for:

POLITICO Pro

Archives for Lennart Pfahler

Inside Germany’s far-left war on infrastructure

May 4, 2026 4:00 am CET

Children groomed for murder through video games, Europol warns

November 21, 2025 4:00 am CET

Moldova warns of Russian ‘disruptive’ moves against overseas voting in Sunday’s runoff

November 2, 2024 12:14 pm CET

Germany zeroes in on Ukrainian suspect in Nord Stream pipeline explosions

August 14, 2024 4:03 pm CET

How even in death, Navalny helped Biden and Scholz get to a ‘yes’ on the prisoner swap

August 8, 2024 6:45 pm CET

MEP Krah accessed ‘sensitive’ documents, EU Parliament trade committee chair says

April 27, 2024 6:39 pm CET

Transatlantic blame game: Trump, Merkel, Biden and the danger of Germany’s dependence on Huawei

October 15, 2023 9:13 pm CET

Italy warned of dead children on migrant ship hours before it capsized

July 15, 2023 1:30 am CET

Alexander Dinger – POLITICO

Tue, 05 May 2026 01:43:05 +0000

Search for:

POLITICO Pro

Archives for Alexander Dinger

Inside Germany’s far-left war on infrastructure

May 4, 2026 4:00 am CET

Lithuania’s ‘Plan B’ for a Europe with fewer American troops

February 6, 2026 7:00 am CET

Children groomed for murder through video games, Europol warns

November 21, 2025 4:00 am CET

Moldova warns of Russian ‘disruptive’ moves against overseas voting in Sunday’s runoff

November 2, 2024 12:14 pm CET

Inside Germany’s far-left war on infrastructure – POLITICO

Tue, 05 May 2026 01:42:45 +0000

Inside Germany’s far-left war on infrastructure

An investigation reveals the scale of sabotage targeting energy and transport networks.

By ALEXANDER DINGER, LENNART PFAHLER
and PHILIPP WOLDIN
in Berlin

^{Illustration by Natália Delgado/ POLITICO}

AI generated Text-to-speech

May 4, 2026 4:00 am CET

By Alexander Dinger, Lennart Pfahler and Philipp Woldin

It was 6 a.m. when Andreas Thomsen realized something was wrong. The lights in his Berlin home refused to turn on. The appliances did not hum. The electric shutters stayed stubbornly shut. The only sound in the house was the steady pumping of his breathing machine.

Thomsen reached for his smartphone. Nothing. No warning. No breaking news alert. He’s 68 years old and suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He cannot survive without his ventilator. It was now running on battery power. He had six hours left.

Only around 8 a.m. did Thomsen learn what had happened: an attack on the city’s electricity supply. Hundreds of thousands of Berliners in the city’s southwest had been left without power. He alerted his caregivers and called the fire department.

What happened to Thomsen that morning in January 2026 was not an accident. The blackout that hit southwest Berlin was part of a series of attacks that have exposed how vulnerable Germany’s infrastructure has become — and how ill-prepared the state is to stop them.

For months, authorities have focused their attention on the threat of Russian sabotage. But a monthslong investigation by WELT — which, like POLITICO, is part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network — suggests the more significant threat is domestic. Behind many of these attacks is a small, decentralized network motivated by far-left extremism. Opportunistic and difficult to track, this homegrown network is increasingly willing to target critical systems, with potentially deadly results.

For Thomsen, the blackout meant he was in danger of suffocating. By 10 a.m., his ventilator showed only two hours of battery life remaining. One of his caregivers kept dialing the emergency services. When the fire department finally arrived, it faced a new problem. The heavy rolling gate outside his house wouldn’t open without electricity.

The closed Mexikoplatz S-Bahn train station in the dark during a power outage, following an arson attack on power cables on January 4, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. | Omer Messinger/Getty Images

Shortly before 11 a.m., with just over an hour left, a second ambulance arrived. The lead emergency physician made a decision. The building’s elevator was dead, and Thomsen could not be carried down the narrow staircase with his stationary ventilator.

The ambulance was equipped with a mobile ventilator. But to get there, he would have to be disconnected.

“It felt like drowning,” Thomsen recalled. Only once he was inside the ambulance was he able to breathe again. “That’s when I realized how close it had been.”

Later, an outfit calling itself the Volcano Group claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement published online, it dismissed sympathy for the residents of the affluent neighborhoods affected. There was no mention of the people whose lives it put at risk that morning. Germany’s federal prosecutor is now investigating the incident, and has informed Thomsen that he will be interviewed about his experience.

For investigators, the Volcano Group’s claim was both familiar and frustrating. The name had appeared repeatedly over the past decade in connection with acts of sabotage against rail networks, power lines and the construction site of Tesla’s first European gigafactory. The German Interior Ministry attributes at least 13 attacks to the group, but investigators believe that it is less an organization than a label — one adopted by different perpetrators.

Authorities suspect the January blackout is linked to a similar attack in September 2025, when unknown perpetrators set fire to two power pylons in southeast Berlin’s Johannisthal municipality. Their target was the electricity supply to the Adlershof technology park, one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Tens of thousands of households lost power, some for days. The damage ran into the tens of millions. Shortly afterward, a claim of responsibility appeared online, signed simply: “Some anarchists.”

At the time, the case seemed exceptional. In hindsight, investigators now see it differently. Security authorities believe the perpetrators of the Johannisthal arson attack and those behind the January blackout in southwest Berlin come from the same milieu: a loose, clandestine network of left-wing activists that has proven difficult for authorities to keep track of, let alone stop.

‘Disconnect’

Through conversations with police officers, prosecutors, domestic intelligence officials and security policymakers, granted anonymity to speak frankly, WELT reconstructed many of the attacks in detail, as well as the ways law enforcement has responded. What emerges from police files and interviews is a fragmented picture. The network, German investigators interviewed by WELT said, is less an organization than a scene, a collection of fellow travelers coordinating in an ad hoc fashion.

Roles within the network are loosely divided. Some provide the ideological slogans: They write texts, deliver lectures and create the theoretical foundation for action. Others take on the operational side: small groups of siblings, childhood friends, kindred spirits. Meanwhile, left-wing publications outline grievances, justify attacks and, at times, describe in detail how to carry them out.

Authorities have been investigating attacks carried out by the so-called Volcano Group since 2011, but so far they have little to show for it. Figures that they associate with the network turn up in connection with one attack, fade out of sight, then reappear after another. Investigators trace a series of escalating protests and attacks that have culminated in the sabotage operations against the grid in Berlin.

In May 2015, a group calling itself Capulcu — Turkish for marauders, a term adopted from the 2013 Gezi protests in Istanbul — published a 58-page booklet for download. Titled “Disconnect,” it was a call to fight the digitalization of modern life — by force, if necessary.

The authors accused the state and major corporations of waging a “technological attack” on society. New technologies like social media, they argued, are instruments of control. The response, they suggested, must be resistance — including sabotage. They wrote of “storming machines” and disrupting the “informational nervous system” with attacks on data cables and digital infrastructure.

Maintenance workers repair damage on January 6, 2026, at the site of an arson attack on high-voltage cables on a bridge near the Lichterfelde power plant on the Teltow Canal in Berlin. | Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images

Among the authors was a man known by several names, including his real one: Guido Arnold, a trained physicist who researches “biopolitics” at the Duisburg Institute for Language and Social Research. What sounds academic, investigators say, is also part of a political project. German security officials are convinced that what Arnold writes and posts online, or lectures about at left-wing centers in Germany and Switzerland, serves as inspiration and instruction for saboteurs.

Arnold did not respond to written requests for comment. In an interview with the daily German newspaper taz, he dismissed the idea that he was the leading thinker of the Volcano Group and described himself as a victim of a smear campaign. Asked if he had any affiliation with the group, he answered: “Why should I?”

In April 2020, Capulcu published a denunciation of an app the government hoped could be used to track Covid-19 infections. The activists saw it as an instrument of surveillance. Anyone who shares their data, they argued, risks ending up in the sights of law enforcement. “Where there’s a trough, the pigs will come,” wrote the group on the left-wing website Indymedia, referring to the police.

The app was developed with the help of the Heinrich Hertz Institute, a research institute. Nine days after the denunciation was published, a passerby in Berlin noticed smoke rising from a construction pit. A power cable had caught fire. Not long later, a claim of responsibility appeared on Indymedia. The attack, it said, was aimed at “a data line to the Heinrich Hertz Institute.” The action, it added, was directed against the “henchmen of new state techniques of domination and of the social technological attack.”

In mid-August last year, Arnold gave a lecture at the Berlin activist venue “Lunte.” In it, he railed against a “far-right tech oligarchy,” “destructive AI bullshit,” billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, quoted Zuckerberg’s call for more “masculine aggression” and urged resistance against an “authoritarian project for the future.” These projects, he said, must be attacked “directly and immediately.”

A month later, the power pylons in Berlin were on fire.

Asked by WELT whether there was any link between his writings and the acts of sabotage, Arnold did not reply. In his interview with taz, he acknowledged the analyses provided by Capulcu could inspire “a desire to take action.”

“When we see the speed at which this development is progressing, it’s clear that we have to sabotage this technocratic ideology of the future,” he said. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean thinking about burning data centers. It can also simply mean delegitimizing this ideology and trying to undermine its foundations. There are many, many ways to counter this bleak vision of the future.”

Cat and mouse

The network’s loose structure has frustrated investigators seeking to thwart it, as even small cells learn from each other’s mistakes.

In the summer of 2017, far-left militants from across Europe — anarchists from Italy, radical environmentalists from France, German Marxists — converged on Hamburg to protest the G20 summit taking place in the city. They scouted targets and hid stones, fireworks and spare clothes. Cars and storefronts burned. The police struggled in vain to regain control. Almost miraculously, nobody was killed.

A year later, authorities got wind of a planned series of arson attacks — including one on the home of a Hamburg senator. Police identified three suspects. They lived in a shared apartment plastered with anti-police and anti-state posters. State security officers observed the trio, including through a camera hidden in a Coke bottle across the street from a left-wing squat that one of the suspects was known to frequent.

On the second anniversary of the G20 riots, investigators moved in. In a park in Hamburg, they arrested the three suspects. In a backpack, they found gasoline, barbecue lighter fluid, gloves and a list of potential targets. In November 2020, after a trial marred by attacks and sabotage attempts, the three activists were sentenced to prison terms of just under two years.

A police placard offers a EUR one million reward for information leading to people behind the recent blackout in Berlin on January 29, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images

An anarchist magazine called Zündlumpen broke down what went wrong for the activists. Published in Munich, Zündlumpen is known for offering instructions for sabotage — how to disable streetlights without leaving DNA evidence, for example. Sometimes it consists of only two pages, densely printed in black and white. This time it ran more than 170 pages.

In this issue, published in September 2021, the anarchists studied the police the way a soccer coach studies their next opponent. They analyzed their own side’s mistakes and how to eliminate them.

After detailing how investigators tracked down the would-be arsonists, the authors praised them for traveling by bicycle. “The speed can be adjusted, public transportation can be used in between, and it is easier to determine whether you are being followed,”wrote the authors. But they chided the group for taking the same routes too often, making things too easy for police surveillance teams. “It is always worth planning enough time for detours, observations and self-checks.”

Investigators suspected the magazine’s authors were not mere commentators. Munich prosecutors believe people linked to Zündlumpen are behind arson attacks on forestry machines, wind turbines, concrete mixers and dozens of police vehicles. In April 2022, police accused three people of being behind the anarchist magazine and placed two of them in pretrial detention.

In March 2025, a senior public prosecutor filed charges against them — accusing them, among other things, of founding a criminal organization. But by the end of the year, part of the case collapsed. A regional court ruled that the evidence against one of the suspects was too thin. That individual would later be suspected by the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office of participating in the Johannisthal arson attack.

According to German law, neither journalists nor authorities can disclose the identities of suspected perpetrators. WELT was unable to contact the three individuals authorities believe are behind Zündlumpen.

Power failure

The attacks were getting bolder.

In March 2024, a power pylon near the construction site of a Tesla gigafactory was set on fire, halting production for days. Investigators zeroed in on a Berlin-based cell that included a man they believed was linked to the Hamburg riots and several arson attacks.

Security authorities placed tracking devices in vehicles, but the group discovered the devices and removed them. The police received a tip about an imminent attack on a parking site where Tesla was storing its vehicles. A hundred police officers positioned themselves in a nearby patch of forest, but the masked suspects fled.

A few days later, suspected saboteurs at a campsite near the Tesla site were seen handling jerrycans, filling bottles and practicing throws. But whatever they might have planned, they didn’t go through with it. Nobody was arrested.

Then came the attacks on Berlin’s power grids in September 2025 and January 2026.

The January attack resulted in the biggest blackout in Berlin since World War II. The first to notice it was the staff in the grid operator’s control center, notified when 16 automatically generated fault messages arrived on their phones. The sheer quantity of alerts did not fit an ordinary power outage. Workers initially categorized the situation as a technical malfunction, according to internal logs reviewed by WELT.

Volunteers of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief light a generator operated street light near Mexikoplatz square on January 4, 2026. | Omer Messinger/Getty Images

At 6:14 a.m., the assessment changed. A fire had broken out beneath a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal. Several power lines were in flames. Emergency crews on the scene reported explosions. As firefighters battled the blaze, electricity went out across large parts of the city. Those in charge triggered a staff alert level 3 — the highest level, a “major emergency incident.”

According to the logs, 45,000 households and around 2,000 businesses were affected, including five hospitals, three with emergency care units. Also hit were 66 care facilities and numerous people receiving care at home — including individuals like ALS patient Andreas Thomsen, who cannot breathe without electricity.

For the authorities, this attack was a turning point. “We need to intensify the fight against left-wing terror,” said German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in the weeks after. Internally, his language was harsher. Authorities had been tracking attacks by the so-called Volcano Group since 2011 — and they still had no solid leads. Dobrindt said he was extremely dissatisfied.

A confidential analysis by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office found 321 incidents of sabotage nationwide last year, including a sharp uptick in the third quarter, when authorities logged 94 cases. Early targets included military and police facilities and rail infrastructure, followed by an increase in attacks on the energy grid.

Data compiled from Germany’s federal states suggests most identified suspects are linked to the far left. In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia alone, the state Interior Ministry attributes 425 out of 445 attacks on the electricity and energy grid since 2019 to perpetrators motivated by left-wing ideology.

While Dobrindt has publicly pointed to Moscow as being behind the attacks, police have not been able to provide proof of the Kremlin’s involvement. “One theory is that so-called low-level agents are being deployed — meaning foreign powers make use of approachable or coercible individuals on the ground to carry out espionage or sabotage,” said Dobrindt in a recent interview.

However, an internal Federal Police analysis from autumn 2025 struck a more sober note: “So far, police investigations have not, in any concrete case, been able to substantiate state direction or corresponding activities, nor provide proof of the involvement of intelligence services or foreign state actors in the possible reconnaissance of critical infrastructure, military facilities or defense companies.”

Police raids

A few weeks after the blackout, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the federal prosecutor went on the offensive: They announced a reward of €1 million — 40 times higher than what was offered for Daniela Klette, a suspected terrorist accused of prominent attacks in the 1990s.

The Berlin blackout and its consequences also kicked off a debate on left-wing online platforms. Some older activists argued it was a step too far: They had wanted to cause a “disturbance of normality,” not its “destruction.” Many younger people, by contrast, said they wanted to continue the attacks.

Investigators tapped phones but found little that was truly incriminating. In late March, authorities carried out coordinated raids across Berlin and the rest of the country. More than 500 police officers searched apartments, meeting spots and an anarchist bookstore. The targets were strictly secret. The fear of leaks was so great that even officers inside the State Criminal Police Office were led to believe the operation concerned escalating gang violence in Berlin.

But in the end, what they uncovered was mostly just books. In one location, officers first rammed open the door, then lifted a window off its hinges. For a brief moment, onlookers could glimpse inside the room. Masked police officers were standing in front of plain wooden shelves full of books and pamphlets. A box was labeled “prisoner mail.” On one of the shelves, the corner of a booklet could be seen. “Disconnect,” the cover read.

Again, nobody was arrested.

Speaking in March, a few days before the raids, Thomsen — the man whose ventilator nearly ran out of battery — described the gratitude he feels to those who rescued him.

“They did something extraordinary,” he said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t still be here.” He showed photos on his phone from before his disease began taking away his mobility. In one, he’s riding the bicycle he once used to commute to his law office. In another, he’s with his son at the barber.

His son is now seven, he said. “He is the reason I want to keep living.”

Lennart Pfahler and Philipp Woldin are reporters for WELT. Alexander Dinger is WELT’s investigations editor.

The Axel Springer Global Reporters Network harnesses the resources of the company’s newsrooms to publish ambitious scoops, investigations, interviews, opinion pieces and analysis. It allows journalists — including those from POLITICO, Business Insider, WELT, BILD, Onet and Fakt — to collaborate on major stories for an international audience of hundreds of millions across platforms: online, print, TV and audio.

OpenAI puts ‘Stargate UK’ on hold in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions – POLITICO

Fri, 01 May 2026 19:51:51 +0000

OpenAI puts ‘Stargate UK’ on hold in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions

OpenAI said issues including the U.K.’s copyright rules and energy prices affect its investment decisions.

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

OpenAI had said it would explore leasing up to 8,000 advanced Nvidia chips in the first quarter of 2026 from London-headquartered data center firm Nscale in sites across the U.K. | Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Exclusive

April 8, 2026 4:52 pm CET

By Joseph Bambridge

LONDON — OpenAI has paused a planned artificial intelligence infrastructure project in the U.K., saying the “right conditions” are not in place to proceed, citing regulation and high energy costs as obstacles.

Announced alongside U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to the U.K. in September, news of OpenAI’s plans were heralded as a major vote of confidence for the U.K. by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall.

Dubbed “Stargate UK” — a British offshoot of the AI giant’s international infrastructure project — OpenAI had said it would explore leasing up to 8,000 advanced Nvidia chips in the first quarter of 2026 from London-headquartered data center firm Nscale in sites across the U.K.

The sites included Cobalt Park, part of a government-designated “AI Growth Zone” in the North East of England.

However, OpenAI has yet to take up the chips, with a spokesperson telling POLITICO that while the company “continue[s] to explore Stargate UK,” it will only proceed with the project “when the right conditions such as regulation and the cost of energy enable long-term infrastructure investment.”

OpenAI said its investment decisions are based on multiple factors, including predictable rules on issues such as copyright. The government last month ditched earlier proposals to allow AI firms to use copyrighted content unless rights holders expressly opt out, in a move widely criticized by the tech industry.

“We see huge potential for the U.K.’s AI future,” the OpenAI spokesperson added, noting that the company continues to work with the U.K. government on public sector AI adoption and to invest as part of plans to make London its largest research hub outside of the U.S. Nscale and OpenAI remain in commercial discussions.

A Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said: “Our focus is on continuing to create the right conditions for investment in the U.K.’s AI and data center infrastructure. We are continuing to work with OpenAI and other leading AI companies to strengthen U.K. compute capacity.”

Growing pains

OpenAI’s damning assessment of the U.K.’s attractiveness for infrastructure investment is major a blow to the government’s AI ambitions.

The U.K. faces some of the highest energy prices in the world, and ministers have acknowledged that the U.K. is unlikely to become a leading destination for the large data centers required to train frontier AI models.

But the government has made a concerted effort to attract investment from leading tech firms and infrastructure providers, designating five areas areas across the U.K. as “AI Growth Zones,” including in the North East of England.

It has said AIGZs will benefit from hands-on government support to secure investment, planning permission and energy grid connections, as well as energy bill relief from 2027 in Scotland, Wales and parts of England. The projects will be fully delivered by 2030 and create more than 15,000 temporary and permanent jobs, it says.

But the government has faced criticism from industry over a lack of clarity and slow delivery.

AIGZs in Culham, Oxfordshire and North Wales are yet to confirm private sector partners. Other AIGZs incorporate pre-existing facilities or investments which were announced prior to their designation by the government.

Meanwhile, the timeline for a separate plan by Microsoft and Nscale to build the U.K.’s largest data center in Essex has also been pushed back from 2026 to the second quarter of 2027.

Nscale said the delay will allow the project to incorporate newer Nvidia chips which aren’t yet available. However, the site is yet to receive full planning permission to proceed.

AI Minister Kanishka Narayan defended the government’s handling of large AI infrastructure projects in an interview with POLITICO’s Westminster Insider podcast last month.

“Of course, when you have the biggest investments in the history of infrastructure in parts of Britain, you’re not going to get the building up and running on day one,” he said.

“Let’s partner together on telling a really powerful story of Britain being at the front of the queue,” he said, arguing that “the best insurance policy if you want to do the right thing by British values on AI is to develop British AI.”

8 in 10 Europeans don’t trust US, Chinese firms with data – POLITICO

Fri, 01 May 2026 18:47:10 +0000

8 in 10 Europeans don’t trust US, Chinese firms with data

Europe is rolling out measures to keep data local and reduce reliance on foreign tech.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Around 84 percent of people said they don't trust American tech companies to handle their personal data responsibly. | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez/picture alliance via Getty Images

April 10, 2026 11:09 am CET

By Ellen O'Regan

Tune in to follow the European Pulse Forum live from Barcelona.

More than 8 in 10 Europeans don't trust American or Chinese technology companies with their data, a new POLITICO European Pulse survey of six major EU countries showed.

Around 84 percent of people said they don't trust American tech companies to handle their personal data responsibly. Trust in Chinese tech firms is even lower among Europeans: 93 percent said they don't trust them to be responsible with their data.

The poll comes as Europe is trying to boost homegrown technology across artificial intelligence, cloud, telecoms and beyond, and reduce its reliance on foreign tech giants, notably American and Chinese firms.

While people trust European tech companies more, only half of respondents (51 percent) said they trust homegrown tech firms with their personal data. Slightly fewer respondents (45 percent) said they trusted their national government with their information.

The European Pulse survey, conducted by Cluster17 for POLITICO and beBartlet, polled 6,698 Europeans across Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Belgium from March 13 to March 21.

German respondents were the most mistrusting of U.S. and Chinese tech: 91 percent said they don't trust American companies with their data and 98 percent distrust Chinese firms.

People in Poland were among the most trusting of non-European tech companies, with 38 percent saying they trust U.S. firms with their data and 20 percent saying they trust Chinese tech companies to handle their data responsibly.

Belgian respondents trust European firms the most: 59 percent said they believe European tech companies would be responsible when handling their data.

Any company processing the personal data of Europeans, regardless of where they are based, is required to follow the EU's privacy rules, including its flagship General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

But tech firms based in the U.S. or China also have to navigate domestic security laws, under which authorities can ask them to hand over data — a risk that has raised concerns among Europe's courts and privacy regulators.

Hanne Cokelaere contributed reporting.

EU should relax net-zero target, German energy minister says – POLITICO

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:01:33 +0000

EU should relax net-zero target, German energy minister says

Katherina Reiche says the bloc shouldn’t stick to a ‘rigid’ climate goal.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche speaks to the press in Berlin on March 19, 2026. | Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images

March 24, 2026 11:34 am CET

By Zia Weise

BRUSSELS — The European Union should loosen its "rigid" adherence to climate neutrality and allow itself to miss its 2050 net-zero goal by up to 10 percent, Germany's minister for energy and economy told a major oil and gas conference in the United States.

Speaking at the annual CERAWeek conference in Texas late Monday, Katherina Reiche called the EU's goal to slash its planet-warming pollution to net zero by mid-century into question.

Europe, for a long time, "had left a corridor, there wasn't a net-zero ... it was, for Europe, a goal [to reduce emissions] between 85 and 95 percent," she claimed, likely referring to a non-binding European Commission roadmap from 2011.

"There is a flexibility we have to get back, accept not 100 percent solutions but allowing different solutions and technologies and accept that there might be a gap of maybe a 5 or 10 percent by 2050," she added. "If you have strict and rigid goals, you bind yourself, it ends up that you lose industries that you need ... and we can't afford that we lose our energy-intensive industries in Europe and in Germany."

Reiche's comments mark a rare departure from the EU consensus.

The bloc set itself a net-zero by 2050 goal in 2019, with only Poland not formally committing to the new milestone. Last year, EU governments agreed on an intermediate target to slash the bloc's emissions by up to 90 percent by 2040. Germany has set itself even stricter goals, aiming to become climate neutral by 2045.

Throughout her remarks at CERAWeek, Reiche stressed that economic growth must come before green targets.

"At the end of the day, it is good to have a goal of sustainability — but if sustainability crashes your economy, you have to readjust," she said. "And that's what we're doing right now."

In Germany, Reiche has in recent months unveiled plans to build out gas power plants, scrap the previous government's gas boiler phaseout, remove subsidies for rooftop solar panels, and deprioritize the connection of renewables from the country's power grid.

She also told the Texas audience that Germany should drill for fossil fuels in the North Sea, saying: "We have a gas field in the North Sea, which we don't want to explore. I think we can't stick to this attitude. We have to also go into our own reserves."

And she insisted: "I am not speaking against sustainability, and not against a climate target. But if a climate target ignores other things you have to think of, especially affordability and abundance ... you have to change course."

Mike Lee contributed to this report from Texas.

Europe to burned American scientists: We’ll take you in – POLITICO

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 05:15:31 +0000

Europe to burned American scientists: We’ll take you in

The EU’s body for scientific research, as well as local, regional and national governments, are mobilizing to poach top U.S. scholars.

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Currently, researchers based in the U.S. who relocate to Europe can apply for €1 million beyond the usual maximum grant amount. | Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

April 4, 2025 4:19 am CET

By Aitor Hernández-Morales, Giedrė Peseckytė and Pieter Haeck

Donald Trump is trying to purge United States research institutions of scholars who study purportedly progressive issues.

The European Union is tripping over itself to take them in.

From universities to cities, regions, countries and now the European Commission, the message is loud and clear — Europe welcomes U.S.-based talent and is pulling out all the stops to attract America's best and brightest.

“This global landscape is an opportunity to show the world that Europe will remain a safe space for science and research,” European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva told EU lawmakers on Monday evening. “Europe can and should be the best place to do science ... a place that attracts and retains researchers, both international and European.”

Citing significant cuts to federal research spending in the U.S., as well as coercive measures targeting specific universities and researchers investigating climate science, vaccines and minority and gender issues, the commissioner said the bloc was in a unique position to serve as a refuge for top scientists. She also set out a trove of enticements for researchers hit by Trump's moves.

To enhance Europe’s “pull factor” for top-level talent, Zaharieva said the Commission would enshrine freedom of scientific research within EU law and immediately increase the financial support offered by the European Research Council (ERC), the bloc’s public body for scientific and technological enquiry.

Most of the applicants to the Safe Space for Science scheme are researching subjects like climate change, immunology and infectious diseases, or social sciences involving gender, diversity and migration. | Scott Olson/Getty Images

Currently, researchers based in the U.S. who relocate to Europe can apply for €1 million beyond the usual maximum grant amount, which will be increased to €2 million. That means, in total, these researchers could be eligible for grants of up to €4.5 million.

ERC President Maria Leptin told POLITICO the body wants to maintain “Europe’s tradition of openness and support for independent, investigator-driven research, regardless of the nationality or the current location of grant applicants.”

Leptin insisted the ERC isn't purposely trying to poach U.S. talent, “but we want to help our colleagues over there if we can.”

Citing a letter from 13 member countries urging Brussels to devise a strategy to nab U.S. researchers, Zaharieva said the Commission is working on a special visa for top talent, as well as a system to help governments and universities in the bloc pool resources to attract American scholars. A meeting will also be held to coordinate those actions with EU countries.

“Europe has a historical responsibility to defend academic freedom,” the commissioner added, alluding to the persecution of scholars under Nazi and fascist regimes on the continent during the 1930s and 1940s. “Without freedom, knowledge cannot truly grow.”

Open doors, open labs

Some universities have been quick to spot the opportunity, launching targeted recruitment schemes for U.S. talent.

Last month, Provence's Aix Marseille University (AMU) made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic by unveiling the Safe Space for Science scheme, a $16 million initiative to recruit up to 15 U.S. scientists whose research is being “threatened or hindered” by the new administration.

AMU President Eric Berton told POLITICO that the program — which was “born of indignation at what is happening to our American colleagues” — had been inundated with applications from nearly 150 researchers hailing from top universities including Yale, Colombia and Stanford, as well as from U.S. government agencies like the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA.

Most of the applicants are researching subjects like climate change, immunology and infectious diseases, or social sciences involving gender, diversity and migration — fields targeted by the Trump administration’s war on science and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues. Berton added that even historians had applied to the program.

In recent weeks, similar schemes have been rolled out at other universities. Belgium’s Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) has allocated funds and launched a dedicated welcome center with visa information for postdoctoral scholars who are “victims of political and ideological interference” in the United States.

In Sweden, the prestigious Karolinska Institute, famous for its work on medicines and infectious diseases, said it was increasing its ability to respond to queries on relocating to Sweden for opportunities — “which have already started to come in” — and was liaising with other universities about how best to support academic emigrés from the U.S.

Intellectual gold rush

European cities and regional and national governments are also scrambling to attract top talent that has, until now, usually flocked to prominent and better-financed research institutions on the other side of the Atlantic.

Citing figures like physicists Albert Einstein and Lise Meitner, scientists wrote in an op-ed in Der Spiegel that Germany and Europe now have the opportunity to “reverse the brain drain.” | Keystone/Getty Images

In a bid to reinforce Berlin's status as “a location for international cutting-edge research in the fields of medicine and social sciences,” the city is setting up a special fund to attract researchers from the U.S.

Meanwhile, Catalan President Salvador Illa this week unveiled a €30 million Catalonian Talent Bridge regional recruitment scheme, which will finance posts for 78 American researchers in local universities and high-tech research institutions like the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the National Centre for Genome Analysis.

Prominent scholars are demanding that national governments mobilize funds as well. Eight senior scientists and professors in Germany published an op-ed in Der Spiegel this week urging the country's leaders to target “100 bright minds for Germany” in a concerted recruitment drive.

Citing figures like physicists Albert Einstein and Lise Meitner — both of whom emigrated to escape Nazi persecution during the Third Reich — the scientists wrote that Germany and Europe now have the opportunity to “reverse the brain drain” of the past and “not only strengthen our own innovation and research power, but also cushion the global loss of knowledge progress.”

Despite steep budget cuts in the Netherlands, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Eppo Bruins recently told lawmakers the country would prioritize allocating funds to recruit international scientists that are “worth gold to Europe and the Netherlands.”

Spain is already using Atrae, a scheme originally launched to help repatriate high-level Spanish scientists who had emigrated for economic reasons, to court American scholars. Similarly, Belgium's established Brains for Brussels program — which finances foreign scholars researching artificial intelligence, IVF and other fields that are financially relevant for Belgium’s capital region — is expected to be used to attract U.S. applicants this year.

AMU President Berton said European academic institutions like his own would have “preferred not to have to launch” these initiatives, but that the talent they attract will help the bloc’s universities “develop new research and strengthen their activities.”

Most importantly, he added, their presence on campuses on the continent will represent “a response from the Europe of knowledge to a form of obscurantism gaining ground in the United States.”

Mari Eccles contributed reporting.

Émile Marzolf – POLITICO

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:13:40 +0000

Archives for Émile Marzolf

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it takes 2 minutes to break it.

April 17, 2026 1:18 pm CET

Au Parlement, une quinzaine de lois risquent de ne jamais voir la lumière

March 9, 2026 6:00 am CET

France to ban officials from US video tools including Zoom, Teams

January 27, 2026 7:29 pm CET

Le gouvernement impose sa solution de visio dans l’État et bannit les outils américains

January 27, 2026 4:18 pm CET

France to investigate deepfakes of women stripped naked by Grok

January 2, 2026 5:43 pm CET

Info Politico

La justice étend son enquête sur X aux deepfakes de femmes déshabillées par l’IA Grok

January 2, 2026 3:16 pm CET

EU leaders paper over splits on US tech reliance

October 23, 2025 4:13 am CET

Les 42 personnes qui comptent dans la tech

October 15, 2025 6:00 am CET

Comment Xavier Niel a parasité la stratégie des opérateurs télécoms sur la protection des enfants

October 1, 2025 6:00 am CET

Paris prosecutors probe streaming site Kick following influencer’s death

August 26, 2025 3:02 pm CET

Le parquet de Paris ouvre une enquête sur la plateforme de streaming Kick

August 26, 2025 2:09 pm CET

French digital minister fires back at critics after influencer dies during livestream

August 22, 2025 2:20 pm CET

La réaction des autorités en question après la mort d’un streameur en direct

August 20, 2025 5:59 pm CET

France burns TikTok over tan lines trend

August 4, 2025 12:49 pm CET

Macron wants to ban kids from social media. Can he?

June 12, 2025 8:03 am CET

X, Bluesky and Reddit in France’s crosshairs amid porn clampdown

June 11, 2025 4:00 am CET

France considers requiring Musk’s X to verify users’ age

June 9, 2025 4:25 am CET

Porno : le gouvernement menace d’imposer un contrôle de l’âge au réseau social X

June 6, 2025 4:58 pm CET

Pornhub to suspend porn in France

June 3, 2025 4:26 pm CET

Aylo va suspendre demain ses sites Pornhub, Youporn et Redtube en France

June 3, 2025 3:40 pm CET

Fusion des cartes vitale et d’identité : Macron dit oui, l’administration dit non

May 15, 2025 2:41 pm CET

Ellen O’Regan – POLITICO

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:13:39 +0000

Search for:

POLITICO Pro

Archives for Ellen O'Regan

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it takes 2 minutes to break it.

April 17, 2026 1:18 pm CET

Online age checks are coming in Europe

April 15, 2026 8:36 pm CET

EU complaints system buckles under pressure of AI

April 10, 2026 6:24 pm CET

8 in 10 Europeans don’t trust US, Chinese firms with data

April 10, 2026 11:09 am CET

Privacy roadblock stunts von der Leyen’s anti-red tape crusade

April 2, 2026 12:30 pm CET

Irish lawmaker urges Stripe to flout US sanctions on UN investigator Albanese

March 31, 2026 7:17 pm CET

Eurovision to host Asian version of song contest in Bangkok

March 31, 2026 11:49 am CET

Iran unsuccessfully targeted Diego Garcia base, UK confirms

March 21, 2026 5:36 pm CET

Trump affirms ‘total endorsement’ of Orbán ahead of Hungary election

March 21, 2026 5:13 pm CET

EU urges member countries to ease gas demands amid Iran conflict

March 21, 2026 2:59 pm CET

Switzerland halts weapons exports to US over Iran conflict

March 21, 2026 11:47 am CET

Israel, Iran launch fresh attacks as Trump floats ‘winding down’ Mideast operations

March 21, 2026 11:34 am CET

Germany’s privacy chief gets sidelined as intel services bulk up

March 5, 2026 5:45 pm CET

TikTok starts court battle to save China ties

March 3, 2026 10:06 pm CET

Aid workers face expulsion from Gaza. They hope EU privacy laws can save them.

February 25, 2026 7:11 pm CET

Brussels’ privacy reforms stumble out the gate

February 23, 2026 5:15 pm CET

Ireland launches ‘large-scale inquiry’ into Musk’s AI bot Grok

February 17, 2026 1:01 am CET

EU Parliament blocks AI tools over cyber, privacy fears

February 16, 2026 5:39 pm CET

Europe’s open-border dreams meet German politics

February 13, 2026 2:48 pm CET

EU top court unblocks WhatsApp’s fight against millions in privacy fines

February 10, 2026 10:20 am CET

EU plan to share data with US border force sparks surveillance fears

February 3, 2026 4:19 am CET

Eliza Gkritsi – POLITICO

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:13:38 +0000

Search for:

POLITICO Pro

Archives for Eliza Gkritsi

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it takes 2 minutes to break it.

April 17, 2026 1:18 pm CET

Online age checks are coming in Europe

April 15, 2026 8:36 pm CET

Le dispositif de vérification de l’âge de l’UE est prêt, affirme Ursula von der Leyen

April 15, 2026 12:31 pm CET

‘No more excuses’: Von der Leyen says EU age checking app is ready

April 15, 2026 11:53 am CET

Europe should regulate Big Tech instead of banning kids from social media, Estonia says

April 10, 2026 4:39 pm CET

Most Europeans want minors off social media

April 9, 2026 5:57 pm CET

Australia says it can’t go it alone on social media ban for kids

April 7, 2026 10:39 pm CET

MEPs told to leave phone at home for China trip

March 27, 2026 6:06 pm CET

Protection des mineurs : Snapchat visée par une enquête de la Commission européenne

March 26, 2026 8:29 pm CET

EU probes Snapchat for failing to protect kids from grooming and illegal goods

March 26, 2026 12:05 pm CET

EU accuses 4 platforms of failing to stop kids accessing porn

March 26, 2026 12:01 pm CET

Commissioners pile pressure on Parliament to pass child sexual abuse bill

March 25, 2026 3:05 pm CET

US should give up on trying to change EU tech rules, lawmakers say

March 24, 2026 8:44 pm CET

Human rights chief warns against banning social media for kids

March 24, 2026 1:36 pm CET

Let’s talk about your tech rules, Trump envoy tells EU

March 23, 2026 7:17 pm CET

Elon Musk’s X cooperates with €120M EU fine

March 18, 2026 11:19 am CET

US committee demands Big Tech share private comms with EU officials

March 16, 2026 9:30 pm CET

EU in a bind as deepfakes flood Hungarian election campaign

March 10, 2026 6:42 pm CET

Far right pushes for debate on ‘election interference’ by Brussels

March 5, 2026 5:32 pm CET

Resist ‘dangerous and socially unacceptable’ age checks for social media, scientists warn

March 2, 2026 6:00 am CET

How every EU country responded to the strikes on Iran

March 1, 2026 9:20 pm CET

Online age checks are coming in Europe – POLITICO

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:13:36 +0000

Online age checks are coming in Europe

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the world’s biggest tech platforms have “no more excuses” for not checking users’ ages before letting them access restricted content.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Critics of age-verification tools say that any effort to verify age will undermine online anonymity and risks hurting the right of children to have access to information. | Anna Barclay/Getty Images

April 15, 2026 8:36 pm CET

By Eliza Gkritsi and Ellen O'Regan

BRUSSELS — The EU is rolling out a way to check people’s ages online within weeks as it plows ahead with efforts to protect kids on the internet — claiming to have solved longstanding concerns over privacy and security in the process.

The move comes as European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer amp up the pressure on social media platforms to do more to protect their users from mental and physical health risks.

Macron will host a call with EU leaders on Thursday as well as with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to push for action on banning social ⁠media for kids.

Announcing a new age-verification tool in Brussels on Wednesday, von der Leyen said the world’s biggest tech platforms have “no more excuses” for not checking users’ ages before letting them access restricted content like pornography or gambling — or, soon, social media.

If the Commission manages to bring platforms in line, internet users in the EU — even those just visiting the bloc — will soon be asked to verify their age to access age-restricted online services.

But age checks are widely seen by privacy advocates as a Trojan horse of surveillance, and several said Brussels’ initiative needs much more work before it should go live.

“We are deeply worried by the Commission plans to tie digital identity with the technical implementation of age verification,” Thomas Lohninger, executive director of Austrian privacy NGO epicenter.works, told POLITICO.

Arguing that the source code is “nowhere near a production-ready state,” Lohninger said the Commission must “rethink their plans for age verification and instead focus on overdue enforcement” of the EU’s online content laws.

Critics say that any effort to verify age will undermine online anonymity and risks hurting the right of children to have access to information.

Wednesday’s move comes as the political momentum behind age restrictions for addictive social media platforms outruns the policy assessments. A panel of experts convened by von der Leyen to draft its recommendation will hold its second meeting on Thursday. It will deliver its policy proposal by the summer, von der Leyen said.

“It is for parents to raise their children and not for platforms,” von der Leyen said as she unveiled the new tool, saying the technology is ready to be rolled out in the coming weeks.

The age verification app will not be mandatory for platforms, but the Commission said it is their preferred solution for how platforms should check the age of users to meet legal requirements. If they want to use other solutions, they need to prove that they are equally good.

Macron will host a call with EU leaders on Thursday as well as with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to push for action on banning social ⁠media for kids. | Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

To assuage privacy concerns, the Commission said it has integrated so-called zero-knowledge proofs — a cryptographic solution that will allow the app to transmit only a yes-or-no answer about age to platforms, without revealing identifying information.

It’s a “gold standard” for privacy, a senior Commission official told reporters.

According to Simeon de Brouwer from EDRi, an umbrella privacy civil society group: “The Commission touts its tools as addressing privacy concerns, but other digital rights — the freedom of information, of expression of young people and of the adults who won't be able to use the tool — are completely forgotten.”

Gaining momentum

Von der Leyen’s announcement — although technical — is indicative of the huge momentum behind social media bans to keep kids and teenagers away from platforms and their addictive algorithms.

Seven countries that had already been working on their own apps in coordination with the EU will deploy their versions by the end of the year, the senior Commission official said: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

The app gives people three ways to prove their age: passports, national IDs and a third way dubbed a “QR code” under which a trusted provider such as a school or a bank can attest to a user’s age.

The application will then store the information as to whether the user is over 13, 15 or 18 years of age without retaining other data, the Commission official said. Online services, like adult content sites or social media, can then call on the app to check if a user is over a certain age.

Von der Leyen will present the solution to EU leaders on Thursday in a bid to gain political support. The call will be attended by eight heads of state as well as Macron — from Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia — as well as by Austrian, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese digital ministers, an Élysée official said.

The app will work by using IP addresses, which show the location of users, meaning it can be circumvented with a virtual private network, the senior Commission official said.

Rand Hammoud, director of security at civil society group Center for Democracy and Technology Europe, said in an emailed statement that the plans “provide little reassurance around the many data protection, anonymity and security concerns for high-risk individuals” such as human rights defenders, people in exile or journalists “who all need to be able to access online services anonymously and in safety.”

Hammoud said it is also unclear what kind of data access governments and EU agencies would have through the system, and how the Commission would prevent tracking or sharing personal data with other companies or governments.

POLITICO – European Politics, Policy, Government News

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:13:33 +0000

The great unblocking? EU foreign ministers eye sweeping changes as Orbán exits

The problem with Europe’s Big Tech breakup: It’s still hooked

Lawmakers urge EU Parliament to halt monthly Strasbourg trip over energy costs

EU looks to revive joint gas buying as energy fears mount

Orbán’s EU fixer faces becoming Hungary’s ‘fall guy’

Latest news

Florida launches ‘criminal investigation’ into ChatGPT, fueled by university shooting

29 MINS ago

Russia uses AI to hack Europe, Dutch intelligence warns

42 MINS ago

EU members reject push to suspend association agreement with Israel

1 HR ago

Ukraine has repaired Druzhba pipeline, Zelenskyy says

1 HR ago

7 takeaways from Olly Robbins’ evidence on the Peter Mandelson vetting saga

2 HRS ago

7 people arrested over planned arson attack on UK Jewish community

4 HRS ago

History Dept.

From Attila the Hun to Donald J. Trump: A brief history of popes battling world leaders

6 mins read

EU Commission jobs reshuffle on hold as chiefs stick in post

4 mins read

Romania plunges back into political turmoil as Social Democrats move to topple PM

3 mins read

Editors’ picks

Questions loom over Séjourné’s relationship with Attal

3 mins read

Hungary must arrest Netanyahu if he visits, Magyar says

2 mins read

7 reasons Starmer can’t shake off the Mandelson vetting saga

9 mins read

Britain sidelined in talks on Carney-backed defense bank

4 mins read

Trump is quietly seeking allies to fix Gaza, says Norway

3 mins read

Orbán’s exit leaves Israel exposed in Europe

5 mins read

How the Iran war set Beijing up for global clean energy dominance

12 mins read

POLITICO Pro

Thin ice, thick tensions: Europe and polar power politics

The Arctic has moved to the forefront of European strategic thinking, as climate change and geopolitical rivalry expose its links to the EU’s energy, security and industrial vulnerabilities.

BY IZABELA KANTOR, CHIARA RINALDI, ALEKSANDRA KHOKHLOVA AND CHRYSTEL PAPI • APR 9

Read report Learn about Pro →

Free with this preview. Normally Pro-only.

7 takeaways from Olly Robbins’ evidence on the Peter Mandelson vetting saga

Apr 21 10 mins read

From Attila the Hun to Donald J. Trump: A brief history of popes battling world leaders

Apr 21 6 mins read

EU top court strikes down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ rules

Apr 21 3 mins read

The problem with Europe’s Big Tech breakup: It’s still hooked

Apr 20 12 mins read

Hungary must arrest Netanyahu if he visits, Magyar says

Apr 20 2 mins read

Orbán’s EU fixer faces becoming Hungary’s ‘fall guy’

Apr 21 8 mins read

Newsletters

Get the best of POLITICO in your inbox.

See all newsletters

Brussels Playbook

POLITICO’s must-read briefing on what's driving the day in Brussels.

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

London Playbook

What's driving the day in Westminster. Politics and policymaking in the UK capital.

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Playbook Paris

Le briefing politique essentiel du matin, par Elisa Bertholomey et Anthony Lattier.

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Podcasts

Tune in to POLITICO’s podcasts, available on your favorite platform.

See all podcasts

Podcast

Why Olly Robbins isn’t Labour’s only problem

Presented by Amazon

Podcast

No Orbán, no excuses

Podcast

Defense deals and Thomas Tuchel’s chances: Inside the new Anglo-German bromance

Security-Update: Hormus als Nadelöhr – wie kommt Trump aus der Krise?

France

The continent

At anti-Trump rally, Sánchez promises to ‘twist the arm’ of the global right

2 mins read

How a fake Russian story became a real problem for Estonia

12 mins read

‘A political era has ended’: Orbán breaks silence after Hungarian election defeat

2 mins read

Airlines cancel flights, ground planes as jet fuel shock hits Europe

3 mins read

Britain

EXCLUSIVE

Mandelson files to exclude worst of UK’s private comments on Trump

5 mins read

Fatal flaw: Keir Starmer’s leadership vacuum threatens to swallow him up

13 mins read

Starmer ‘furious’ over Mandelson vetting failures as Labour critics pounce

3 mins read

Washington

Trump’s loud Orban support contrasts with decades of covert US electoral warfare

11 mins read

Postcard from DC

Europeans tried to win over the US this week in DC. Their efforts were lost in translation.

4 mins read

Trump rejects ‘blackmail’ by Tehran as Iranian military shuts Hormuz again

4 mins read

Brussels

EU Parliament’s reputation at stake in access debate, new anti-fraud chief says

4 mins read

Orbán is out. Who’s the EU’s next top disruptor?

6 mins read

EU to game out bloc’s mutual assistance clause in case of attack

4 mins read

Europe to accelerate effort to secure Hormuz despite Trump’s order to stay away

3 mins read

Germany

Can Germany restart its nuclear power program? A peek inside a decommissioned reactor suggests it could.

16 mins read

Germany’s €2B battlefield digitalization system runs into trouble

5 mins read

Merz’s coalition agrees on joint measures to tackle Iran war fallout

3 mins read

Opinion

Commentary

The Iran war has been good for Starmer — to a point

5 mins read

Beyond the Bubble

Thought there was enough maritime drama? Look to the Gulf of Finland.

5 mins read

How football assisted Viktor Orbán’s rise — and maybe his fall

19 mins read

Germany Interpreted

Germany’s center left is on the brink of oblivion

6 mins read

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it takes 2 minutes to break it. – POLITICO

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:13:32 +0000

Brussels launched an age checking app. Hackers say it takes 2 minutes to break it.

Cyber experts say they have found holes in Brussels’ age verification app, despite claims by the EU executive that it is “technically ready.”

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Within hours of the EU’s app release, security consultant Paul Moore found it would store sensitive data on a user’s phone and leave it unprotected. | Sina Schuldt/picture alliance via Getty Images

April 17, 2026 1:18 pm CET

By Émile Marzolf, Ellen O'Regan and Eliza Gkritsi

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s unveiling of a mobile app to check people’s age online has quickly turned sour, as cybersecurity experts found glaring privacy and security problems with the code.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the age-verification tool in Brussels on Wednesday, saying it was "technically ready" and will soon be available to use as countries move to ban kids from social media.

"It is fully open source. Everyone can check the code," von der Leyen said.

Cyber and privacy experts immediately dove into the source code on the GitHub software platform and reported several issues with the app's design.

The saga is turning into a PR disaster for Brussels. But underneath the controversy over the code lie deeper divisions between privacy campaigners, child rights groups, tech firms and politicians over how to protect minors online — as leaders promise to shield kids from social media and porn sites.

Within hours of the EU’s app release, security consultant Paul Moore found it would store sensitive data on a user’s phone and leave it unprotected, he wrote in a widely shared post on X. Moore claimed to have hacked the app in under 2 minutes.

Baptiste Robert, a prominent French white hat hacker, confirmed many of the issues and told POLITICO it was possible to bypass the app’s biometric authentication features, meaning someone would be able to forgo entering a PIN code or using Touch ID to access the app.

Olivier Blazy, a cryptographic researcher who is part of a French task force on digital identity, said: "Let’s say I downloaded the app, proved that I am over 18, then my nephew can take my phone, unlock my app and use it to prove he is over 18."

The European Commission on Friday stood by its statement that the app is technically ready. "Yes, it is ready. Maybe we can add, 'and it can always be improved'," Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho told reporters.

Digital spokesperson Thomas Regnier said: "Now, when we say it's a final version, it's ... still a demo version." He added the final product is not yet available for citizens and "the code will be constantly updated and improved … I cannot today exclude or prejudge if further updates will be required or not."

The European Commission on Thursday told POLITICO in a statement that the hackers were probing an earlier "demo version" of the app that was released for "testing and development purposes." The vulnerability "was fixed," it said.

But both Moore and Blazy said they were conducting their tests on the latest version of the EU’s code online.

The European Commission on Friday stood by its statement that the app is technically ready. | Jpix/NurPhoto via Getty Images

"It’s a good thing they made the app open source for experts to try and test it. The problem is the released source code does not meet cybersecurity standards we would expect for such an important app," Blazy said.

"We were worried that the Commission would launch its app in a hurry, no matter its security issues, and now we can see it wants to launch something that is not technically ready," Blazy added. "Such a rushed launch could undermine trust in future digital identity wallets."

Inti De Ceukelaire, a prominent Belgian ethical hacker, said: "For open source code projects like this one, it would be a good move to also publish any security assessments prior to launch, so everyone can balance out the benefits versus the risks."

‘Half-baked’

The online row over the EU’s app reveals a fierce divide on how to handle internet users’ access to everything from porn sites to social media platforms.

The EU and many of its member countries are in the middle of rolling out ways to check people’s ages online — driven by a political push to better protect kids on the internet.

French President Emmanuel Macron gathered heads of state from across Europe for a video call on the issue on Thursday evening, attended by von der Leyen, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, Germany’s Friedrich Merz and other leaders.

Australia in December became the first country in the world to implement restrictions on kids’ use of social media, effectively banning under-16s from using popular platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

The European Commission in 2024 opened a €4 million tender for the age verification app late last year, which was won by Swedish digital identity company Scytáles and Deutsche Telekom.

The app allows users to verify their age via their passport, a national ID or via trusted providers like a bank. Tech platforms can ask the app if a person is over a certain age, but wouldn’t have access to more personal data — in what’s known as a “zero-knowledge proof” method aimed at preserving privacy.

National governments can equally design their own apps, and the apps are meant to work together to allow for smooth age checks across the bloc.

But critics of age blocks say the technology to check people’s ages with proper privacy and data protections just isn’t ready — and even if it was, internet users would easily bypass it with things like virtual private networks (VPNs) that mask their location.

Blazy was part of a group of more than 400 privacy and security experts who sent an open letter to the Commission in March to impose a "moratorium on deployment plans until the scientific consensus settles on the benefits and harms that age-assurance technologies can bring, and on the technical feasibility of such a deployment."

According to Markéta Gregorová, a member of the Czech Pirate party in the European Parliament and the lead lawmaker on a new cybersecurity bill, "this process is being rushed under political pressure." Europe should take a much closer look at the app "to assess if all measures were taken for cybersecurity and privacy," Gregorová said.

Birgit Sippel, a prominent German center-left lawmaker, called the app a "half-baked app solution that doesn’t live up to [the EU’s] own standards," in a comment to POLITICO.

Piotr Müller, a Polish lawmaker for the European Conservatives and Reformists, said: "Brussels is once again pushing for a centralized, EU-wide technological tool. The hastily announced age verification app poses a massive risk to the privacy of citizens … We cannot agree to the step-by-step creation of a Chinese-style internet in Europe."

Laurens Cerulus contributed reporting.

Resist ‘dangerous and socially unacceptable’ age checks for social media, scientists warn – POLITICO

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:20:20 +0000

Resist ‘dangerous and socially unacceptable’ age checks for social media, scientists warn

Computer scientists are campaigning against the global march toward age checks online.

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Countries around the world are moving to bar children from social media. | David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

March 2, 2026 6:00 am CET

By Eliza Gkritsi

BRUSSELS — Governments should halt plans to roll out age checks on online services until privacy and security concerns are addressed, hundreds of academics said Monday.

The warning comes as countries around the world move to bar children from social media, which requires some way of checking users’ ages to decide if they can access online services. In an open letter, 371 security and privacy academics across 29 countries said the technologies being rolled out are not effective and carry significant risks.

As companies including OpenAI, Roblox and Discord implement age checks in anticipation of being obliged to, the signatories said it is “dangerous and socially unacceptable to introduce a large-scale access control mechanism without a clear understanding of the implications” for security, privacy and people’s freedom and autonomy.

They are calling instead for a global pause “until the scientific consensus settles on the benefits and harms that age-assurance technologies can bring, and on the technical feasibility.” The signatories include Ronald Rivest, winner of the prestigious Turing Award in computing, and Bart Preneel, president of the International Association for Cryptologic Research.

France is planning to ban kids under 15 from social media as soon as September, while Germany, Denmark and Spain are also accelerating efforts. Australia became the first country in the world to introduce a ban in December 2025. Many leaders have expressed support on the basis it would protect children’s physical and mental health, but countries have yet to decide how bans would be implemented or enforced.

“We share the concerns about the negative effects that exposure to harmful content online has on children,” the academics write. But current plans “would require all users — minors and adults — to prove their age to converse with friends and family, read news, or search for information; well beyond what has ever happened in our offline lives.”

A robust age verification system would require checking “government-issued IDs with strong cryptographic protection for every single interaction with the service,” the academics write. Such infrastructure is not only hard to build and maintain on a global scale, but would add friction in services, meaning many providers would refuse to install age checks.

Using technologies like cryptography to solve the problem risks centralizing tools in the hands of the few companies that can deploy them at scale, the experts warn.

They also warn of the risks that governments would ban virtual private networks to stop people from getting around age bans. VPNs are frequently used by people looking to protect their identities from authoritarian regimes.

MEPs block tech firms from scanning for child sexual abuse material – POLITICO

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 11:18:56 +0000

MEPs block tech firms from scanning for child sexual abuse material

The vote followed weeks of clashes, as national governments pushed the European Parliament to drop its privacy objections to the rules.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Lawmakers voted not to extend a temporary law that allows platforms to scan their services for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). | Markus Lenhardt/picture alliance via Getty Images

March 26, 2026 1:38 pm CET

By Sam Clark

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament on Thursday voted down rules that would allow technology companies to scan for child abuse online — and immediately drew the ire of top-level officials.

Lawmakers voted not to extend a temporary law that allows platforms to scan their services for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The law will expire next Friday, at which point scanning for the content will become illegal in Europe.

In rejecting the rules, lawmakers resisted pressure from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, four European commissioners, tech giants Meta, Google and Microsoft and numerous children’s charities in past weeks.

"As a parent, lawmaker and European, I find today's vote in the European Parliament hard to understand," Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner told POLITICO after the vote. The decision will leave "countless victims without visibility or protection," he said, noting that Europe hosts the most child sexual abuse material in the world.

Catherine De Bolle, the head of EU's police agency Europol, said the law lapsing will undermine the ability to investigate cases of child abuse, "which in turn will severely impair the EU’s security interests of identifying victims and safeguarding children."

Kerry Smith, chief executive officer of the Internet Watch Foundation, said in a comment the vote was a “devastating failure for child protection in the EU.”

A total of 311 lawmakers rejected the European Commission's proposal to extend the law, with 228 voting in favor and 92 abstaining.

The vote followed weeks of clashes, as national governments pushed Parliament to drop its privacy objections in order to secure a swift deal to extend the scanning rules. Negotiators for the Parliament, Council of the EU and Commission this month failed twice to reach a political deal.

Opponents of the rules think the EU's temporary regime gives tech firms way too much room to scan users' messages at a large scale. "Under the pretext of protecting children, millions of private messages from innocent citizens were being scanned for years without delivering adequate results," Markéta Gregorová, a Czech lawmaker with the Greens group, said after the vote.

The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) mounted a last-ditch attempt to keep the scanning rules alive by filing an amendment to Thursday's vote that would have aligned Parliament's position with that of capitals. But lawmakers voted against the EPP's suggested fix, deepening the rift between privacy proponents and child rights defenders.

Leaders of Parliament’s political groups got a letter from four European commissioners on Wednesday, urging them to solve the issue and allow their members to break ranks in the crucial vote, POLITICO first reported. Merz, speaking in the country’s parliament on Wednesday, also called for the law to be extended.

Large platforms Meta (which owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat, Google, Microsoft and LinkedIn (owned by Microsoft) said in a joint statement last week that the EU’s inability to reach a deal was “irresponsible.”

“Failure to act will reduce the legal clarity that has enabled companies for nearly 20 years to voluntarily detect and report known child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in interpersonal communication services,” the tech giants said, pushing for a solution ahead of Parliament's vote.

Child rights groups and tech companies have also long pressed lawmakers to allow scanning to continue.

A spokesperson for the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the EU, representing EU national governments, said it was “regrettably not possible” to reach an agreement. It “remains committed” to getting an agreement on a long-term policy to combat child abuse online, the spokesperson said.

The temporary law that was voted down this week was a workaround to allow platforms to find CSAM content. The European Union is negotiating another, permanent law to fight child sexual abuse online, but those negotiations have also hit disagreements and deadlocks in past years.

This article was updated.

EU effort to push back on China fractures – POLITICO

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:35:44 +0000

EU effort to push back on China fractures

The European Commission wants a common strategy to face the economic superpower, but that’s being undermined by divisions among EU capitals.

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

China's President Xi Jinping during a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 14, 2026. | Haruna Furuhashi/Getty Images

April 16, 2026 3:00 pm CET

By Carlo Martuscelli and Jordyn Dahl

BRUSSELS — The EU wants to protect the bloc’s industrial base from a deepening Chinese incursion, but diverging national interests are undermining efforts to maintain a united front.

That task is becoming even more difficult as the bloc tries to boost global trade ties while U.S. President Donald Trump delivers tariff threats and upends the geopolitical order.

Spain and Hungary, among others, have opened their countries to investments and factories from Chinese companies, yet France wants a harder EU line on safeguarding the bloc’s industrial backbone by taking further trade actions.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is the latest to make the pilgrimage to Beijing, meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week on his fourth trip in as many years. For Sánchez, it’s an opportunity to attract investment, while Xi bolsters ties with a key EU capital.

Sánchez defended the EU-China relationship on Tuesday, calling it a bond “based on trust, dialogue, and stability” and the ultimate goal of a “multipolar order built from respect and pragmatism.”

He was following in the path of other EU leaders who have visited China in the last year, including Emmanuel Macron of France, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Finland’s Petteri Orpo, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and both of the EU's top bosses: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.

The uptick in trips shows the EU’s need to cultivate relations with China, but they come at the same time as the Commission works to limit Beijing’s subsidies to sectors like cars and aims to take a tougher stance on Chinese investment in sensitive economic sectors.

The attraction is obvious.

China has the world’s third-largest economy with a GDP of $20.8 trillion, behind the U.S. at $32.4 trillion and the EU’s $23 trillion, according to the International Monetary Fund.

But selling into China is increasingly difficult for Europe’s automakers and chemical suppliers as Chinese consumers turn to domestic producers and Beijing imposes more requirements on foreign companies. China is also a growing competitive threat in Europe, something Merz underlined during his trip, emphasizing a surging trade imbalance with Beijing.

With Trump’s tariffs limiting China’s access to the U.S. market, imports previously destined for American consumers are being rerouted to Europe. The bloc’s bilateral trade deficit ballooned to over €350 billion in 2025, up nearly a fifth from 2024.

“We lose 10,000 manufacturing jobs every month,” said Joerg Wuttke,a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group who advised Merz ahead of his visit to Beijing. He singled out the chemicals, machinery and automotive sectors as those suffering the most. “That has to do with the fact that, of course, China is pushing their products into the European Union.”

Cautious on China

That pressure is pushing Brussels to act.

The Commission is wary of China’s economic influence and technological development. Beijing has leapfrogged the continent across a range of technologies: from batteries to electric vehicles, solar panels and artificial intelligence. And Beijing’s stranglehold on key resources — like rare earth elements — has policymakers spooked.

Von der Leyen has expressed frustration that several years of high-level summits have failed to deliver any shift away from subsidizing Chinese production toward stimulating consumption. “The current imbalances in the relationship are no longer sustainable,” Olof Gill, the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, said.

Brussels is now looking to take more sweeping action to restrict Chinese investment while shoring up the bloc’s own industrial giants. Divisions among the EU’s capitals, however, are complicating efforts to agree on a joint strategy toward China.

While the Commission tries to get tough, Chinese inroads go beyond exports into investments in member countries.

Sánchez’s visits are paying off. Money is already flowing into Spain’s economy, particularly in the automotive sector. Battery giant CATL is investing €4.1 billion with French-Italian-American automaker Stellantis in a factory in Zaragoza. Chery is opening its first European plant outside Barcelona later this year.

Hungary is also a top destination for Chinese investments, and the need to stay in China’s good graces transcends political differences. On Sunday, voters ousted long-time pro-China Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, but his successor Péter Magyar isn't changing track.

China is “one of the most important, largest, and strongest countries in the world,” Magyar said on Monday. “I am very happy to travel to Beijing, and we are very happy to welcome Chinese leaders here in Hungary.”

Brussels takes action

The Commission is not blind to the industrial challenges posed by the surge in imports, but previous trade actions to curb the practice — time-consuming individual investigations into state subsidies — have done little to turn the tide.

The executive is now hoping to target China by casting a wider net. One example is the recently proposed Cybersecurity Act, which seeks to reduce exposure to high-risk vendors like Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

Its most muscular attempt to control Chinese investments is the Industrial Accelerator Act, the executive’s masterplan to revive EU industry.

The IAA in its current form sets local content requirements, restricts foreign direct investments and would require large deals in key sectors to be structured as joint ventures, an effort to ensure that investments from countries like China also transfer tech to Europe.

The Berlaymont’s hawkish trade department is working on more sweeping measures to protect entire sectors against foreign industrial overcapacity. A first proposal could come this summer.

The Commission hopes the size of the EU’s single market of 27 countries makes it a formidable enough opponent to force China to think twice before retaliating.

That hasn’t scared off Beijing in the past.

Countries that have gone against Chinese interests have found themselves feeling the brunt of Beijing’s retribution.

After EU capitals narrowly backed import duties on made-in-China electric vehicles, France, viewed as the prime mover, was hit with Chinese duties on dairy products and cognac.

In 2021, Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in its capital Vilnius and was hit with a Chinese boycott. A chastened Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene now says her country had “jumped in front of a train and lost” by allowing the representative office and was open to renaming it to assuage Beijing.

Fear of China mixed with the need for Chinese investments makes it difficult for the bloc’s countries to form a unified front.

“We are not a unitary country, we are 27, and if we want to stand up to the problem of China, we have to stand up, preferably, as 27,” Joanna Szychowska, the Commission trade department’s director for Asia, said at a conference earlier this year. “It doesn't always happen.”

Making the task even trickier is the shift in European perceptions of the U.S., which have soured under Trump. Beijing, meanwhile, has tried to present itself as a reliable partner and a guarantor of the international system.

A POLITICO European Pulse survey of six major EU countries found that 29 percent of those surveyed saw China as a threat, while 36 percent felt the same about the U.S. However, China was seen as a competitor by 43 percent, while the U.S. was viewed as a competitor by 24 percent.

“The U.S. has pushed itself into a situation where the Chinese can lean back and wait,” said one EU diplomat, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “They are not reliable partners anymore and are not doing reasonable, predictable politics. The Chinese are waiting for their time to really step in and fill that gap.”

Divisions over China are also present in the European Commission.

Industry Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, the architect of the IAA, also acknowledged the need to keep doors open to China.

“We need it. We need foreign investment,” he said at a POLITICO event in Barcelona earlier last week.

Gill, the Commission spokesperson, called the relationship with China “one of the most strategically important and one of the most challenging we have at the same time.”

While the EU is divided over whether to treat China as a threat or an opportunity, leaders like Spain’s Sánchez are striking deals — and Beijing is gaining allies inside the bloc.

“Spain stands ready to play a constructive role in bridging differences between China and Europe in economy and trade, and building stronger China-Europe relations,” the Chinese foreign ministry said after Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Beijing will import more from Spain and encourage companies to invest more in the Mediterranean country.

US trade envoy Jamieson Greer to visit London in late November – POLITICO

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 03:49:06 +0000

US trade envoy Jamieson Greer to visit London in late November

The U.K. continues to push for a favorable position on a narrow list of tariff lines — with pharmaceuticals and Scotch whisky among Britain’s top priorities.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s visit will take place two days ahead of U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget. | Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

November 3, 2025 4:31 am CET

By Caroline Hug, Graham Lanktree and Camille Gijs

LONDON — U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will visit London on Nov. 24 as the U.K. seeks to secure more concessions in its trade talks with Washington, according to three people familiar with the plans.

London continues to push for a favorable position on a narrow list of tariff lines — with President Donald Trump’s duties on pharmaceuticals and Scotch whisky among Britain’s top priorities.

In a bid to stave off Trump’s 100 percent tariff threats on pharmaceutical imports, the U.K. has proposed increasing the amount the NHS pays for its drugs, as POLITICO first reported in early October.

Ministers agreed last week to a two-week extension to the deadline by which pharma firms must tell the government if they intend to leave the NHS’s voluntary drug pricing scheme, signaling that a breakthrough in talks is imminent.

Greer’s visit comes just two days before Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget, and British officials are eager to finalize the pharma deal ahead of that announcement, said two of the people cited higher. They were granted anonymity to speak freely on a sensitive matter.

If Washington accepts the proposal — effectively committing the NHS to higher drug spending — Reeves will face pressure to spell out how much the increase will cost taxpayers.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We will always prioritise the needs of NHS patients. Investment in patient access to innovative medicines is critical to our NHS.”

“We are now in advanced discussions with the US Administration to secure the best outcome for the UK, reflecting our strong relationship and the opportunities from close partnership with our pharmaceutical industry,” the spokesperson added.

Trump’s asks

Washington, meanwhile, is pushing for more.

The U.S. administration wants Britain to grant additional concessions benefiting American farming and manufacturing, including a relaxation of product standards.

U.S. officials told The Times earlier this month that the talks risk “going off the rails,” voicing frustration over the pace of progress and delays in receiving documents from their U.K. counterparts.

The U.K. has proposed increasing the amount the NHS pays for its drugs. | Leon Neal/Getty Images

Negotiators will hold technical-level talks in Washington in mid-November before Greer’s visit. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile the European Union has invited U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Brussels on Nov. 24 — the same date Greer is in London — for talks with the bloc’s trade ministers.

The Danish presidency of the Council of the EU, as well as the European Commission, invited the commerce secretary to attend a lunch with ministers dedicated to trade relations between the United States and the EU.

It comes as the U.K. is seeking to form an alliance with the European Union and the U.S. to curb China's dominance of the global steel market.

Doug Palmer contributed to this report.

Britain prepares NHS drug spending hike to stave off Trump tariffs – POLITICO

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 03:49:06 +0000

Britain prepares NHS drug spending hike to stave off Trump tariffs

Officials briefed the Trump administration on fresh proposals for pharma pricing earlier this week.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Officials briefed the Trump administration on fresh proposals to adjust how the NHS prices medicines earlier this week, two industry figures told POLITICO. | Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images

Exclusive

October 8, 2025 4:30 am CET

By Dan Bloom and Caroline Hug

LONDON — The U.K. government has drawn up proposals to increase the amount the National Health Service pays pharmaceutical firms for drugs, in a bid to steer U.S. President Donald Trump away from his threatened tariffs on the sector.

Officials briefed the Trump administration on fresh proposals to adjust how the NHS prices medicines earlier this week, two industry figures told POLITICO. The core element of the plan includes raising the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) threshold by 25 percent.

The NICE threshold measures whether a treatment offers good value for money. Under the current rules, if a drug costs the NHS between £20,000 and £30,000 for every extra year of good-quality life it delivers to a patient, it is considered good value.

Increasing the threshold would make it easier for pricier drugs to reach patients, but would mean the NHS will pay more overall for medicines.

The government is expected to brief U.K. pharmaceutical companies on the details later this week, the same two figures cited above said.

One of the figures said the government had long been resistant to changing the NICE threshold due to the cost to the Treasury for no direct extra benefit, but “we have kicked up enough of a stink and they have given in. This is the price you have to pay post-Trump for global pharma to continue to play in the U.K.”

Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on pharmaceutical imports. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on pharmaceutical imports. The trade pact Britain and the U.S. signed in May left the door open to “preferential treatment” on tariffs — but only if the U.K. improved conditions for American pharma companies operating in Britain.

British pharma giants AstraZeneca and GSK are hoping to strike deals with the Trump administration to avoid tariffs on their exports to the United States.

But the firms are under pressure to streamline their pricing internationally, so that American buyers can pay rates closer to those charged in countries like the U.K., where prices are lower. Reforming NICE’s thresholds could make it easier to do so.

A U.K. government spokesperson said: “The pharmaceutical sector and the innovative medicines it produces are critical to our NHS, our economy and the Plan for Change. Through our Life Sciences Sector Plan, we've committed to working with industry to accelerate growth in spending on innovative medicines compared to the previous decade.”

The spokesperson added: “We've secured a landmark economic partnership with the US that includes working together on pharmaceutical exports from the UK whilst improving conditions for pharmaceutical companies here. We're now in advanced discussions with the US Administration to secure the best outcome for the UK, reflecting our strong relationship and the opportunities from close partnership with our pharmaceutical industry.”

‘Hard negotiators’

NICE, a regulatory body within the NHS, measures the cost-effectiveness of new drugs by weighing their impact on patients’ life against its price. If a drug’s benefits don’t justify its cost, the NHS does not recommend it for use, forcing pharmaceuticals to negotiate price cuts until the drug is deemed cost-effective.

Although London has presented its proposal to Washington, it remains unclear how it’s been received across the Atlantic.

Pharmaceutical companies have long been locked in talks with the government over NHS drug spending amid fears that more investment could flee Britain. Science Minister Vallance previously hinted the NHS would need to pay more if Britain wanted to stay attractive for investment, warning that Trump’s tariffs would make things worse if London doesn’t make “offers in this direction.”

But divisions persist inside government. Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle has indicated pharma companies are proving “hard negotiators” amid crunch talks tied to Trump’s deadline, saying they “know how to use the media and the press.”

Starmer’s chief business adviser Varun Chandra flew to Washington earlier this month to try to head off Trump's threatened tariffs, which were put on hold until the administration negotiates agreements with pharma giants.

Top Brussels official urges Europeans to work from home and drive less – POLITICO

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:40:57 +0000

Top Brussels official urges Europeans to work from home and drive less

Energy commissioner says the oil crisis triggered by Iran war will bring lengthy upheaval, in a speech reminiscent of the Covid pandemic.

AI generated Text-to-speech

Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen is pictured at a press conference in Lisbon, Portugal on Jan. 30, 2026. | Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Getty Images

This article is also available in: French, German

March 31, 2026 6:40 pm CET

By James Fernyhough, Elena Giordano, Ben Munster and Ben Makuch

BRUSSELS — The European Commission has urged people to work from home, drive and fly less, and for EU countries to urgently roll out renewables, as it warned of a prolonged energy crisis as a result of the conflict in the Gulf.

In a speech with echoes of the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, EU energy chief Dan Jørgensen said Europe was facing a "very serious situation" with no clear end in sight.

“Even if ... peace is here tomorrow, still we will not go back to normal in the foreseeable future," he said, following an extraordinary meeting of the EU's 27 energy ministers on Tuesday to discuss the crisis.

"The more you can do to save oil, especially diesel, especially jet fuel, the better we are off," Jørgensen said, confirming an earlier report by POLITICO that Brussels wanted Europeans to travel less.

He urged member countries to follow the advice of the International Energy Agency, which he said included "work from home where possible, reduce highway speed limits by ten kilometers [an hour], encourage public transport, alternate private car access ... increase car sharing and adopt efficient driving practices."

Longer term, he urged EU countries to double down on building more renewables, saying "this must be the time we finally turn the tide and truly become energy independent."

Tuesday's talks between ministers ended with no concrete proposals, although Jørgensen promised the Commission would be announcing a package of EU-level measures in the near future.

His comments come as fears grow that the world faces a major energy crisis exceeding even the 1970s oil shock that could have global economic ramifications comparable to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched the first attacks on Iran over a month ago, oil and gas prices have soared as much as 70 percent as a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply has been stuck in the Persian Gulf.

Talks included discussion of the need for state aid, increased renewables and nuclear power to boost energy security, and support for the Commission's proposal to boost biofuels, according to one person involved in the talks who spoke about the closed-door discussions on condition of anonymity.

Expectations of concrete action going into the meeting were low, according two other EU diplomats. The aim, they said, was to coordinate action.

UK – POLITICO

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:07:23 +0000

What the US blockade of Iran means — and what it doesn’t

Despite Trump’s rhetoric, international naval warfare rules spell out what a blockading navy can do.

Starmer’s piecemeal plan to arm Britain

UK government: We’ll let you know if the World Cup beer runs out

UK hits back at OpenAI after Stargate project shelved

Britain’s finally getting a Trump insurance policy. Just don’t expect Starmer to use it.

2 arrested after attempted arson attack on London synagogue

Fighter pilot Rumen Radev looks to break Bulgaria’s political deadlock

Orbán’s favorite Brussels think tank may be down, but it’s not out

European civil servants are being forced off WhatsApp

New EU climate law deals ‘instant’ blow to Ukraine’s steel exports, industry says

Email address

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

POLITICO Pro

Drive your organization’s strategy forward, faster.

Learn more

A subscription service designed for professionals who live and breathe politics, policy and power. Pro is your trusted source for legislative news, tracking and analysis.

Policymaking and current affairs move quickly, our cross-functional team of global experts helps you to stay ahead of policy shifts.

An example of our Pro-exclusive coverage

Reeves to approve crackdown on ISA savers holding cash and safe investments

LONDON — Chancellor Rachel Reeves is poised to sign off on plans to penalize savers from holding safer investments and cash in stocks and shares ISAs to prevent avoidance of her cut to the cash ISA limit.

IMF: War threatens to turbocharge looming government debt crisis

4 mins read

Trump threatens to shred UK trade deal over Starmer’s Iran war opposition

3 mins read

Hedge funds think they can make a killing on Trump tariff refunds

7 mins read

War threatens to wreak havoc with the global economy, IMF warns

4 mins read

France and UK to co-host talks on securing Strait of Hormuz

2 mins read

UK sets up Brexit-style crisis team to deal with Iran conflict

2 mins read

Newsletters

Get the best of POLITICO in your inbox.

See all newsletters

London Playbook

What's driving the day in Westminster. Politics and policymaking in the UK capital.

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

London Influence

POLITICO’s weekly newsletter on campaigning, lobbying and political influence in the U.K.

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

UK News Alert

UK News Alerts straight to your inbox

This site is protected by Turnstile and the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Podcasts

Tune in to POLITICO’s podcasts, available on your favorite platform.

See all podcasts

Podcast

Going postal: The election brawl begins

Podcast

Can an ex-fighter-jet pilot run Bulgaria?

Nick Thomas-Symonds: Don’t panic, my EU reset plan will work

How will Carney take on Trump?

UK general election polls

all uk POLLS

Potential Scottish indyref

all scottish POLLS

What’s next

BULGARIA

General election
Check polls
April 19

Time until election day

DAYS

HOURS

MINUTES

SECONDS

- Scotland:
- Wales:
- Cyprus:
- Sweden:

What is Poll of Polls and how does it work? Read more.

Brussels

Exclusive

Defeated Viktor Orbán to skip next week’s EU leaders summit

The nationalist-populist leader lost Sunday’s election, but remains Hungary’s caretaker prime minister until next month.

1 min read

EXCLUSIVE

EU countries to call for faster green transition over Iran fuel crisis

A draft agreement on the bloc’s energy and climate diplomacy is steeped in security and autonomy concerns.

3 mins read

Commission delegation heads to Budapest to negotiate release of EU funds

Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar is keen to unlock more than €30 billion which Brussels has frozen due to rule-of-law concerns.

2 mins read

France

Le Pen met France’s richest man and other major CEOs at secret dinner

3 mins read

Paris prosecutors drop drug probe against French MEP Rima Hassan

3 mins read

Gossip mag confirms Bardella’s romance with Maria Carolina de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles

2 mins read

Germany

Prüfaufträge der Taskforce: Wie die Bundesregierung die Maßnahmen gegen hohe Energiepreise bewertet

In einem 20-seitigen Papier legen BMWE und BMF ihre Argumente dar.

5 mins read

Wildberger: Einsatz von KI-Systemen wie ChatGPT teils „sehr gefährlich“

Der Digitalminister im POLITICO-Interview über den langen Weg zur Unabhängigkeit von US-Tech – und eine europäische Alternative zu Palantir.

4 mins read

Dokument: Koalition fordert weitere Lockerungen beim Autopaket der EU

Die Bundesregierung spricht sich für bessere Anrechnung von Hybridfahrzeugen, keine Ausnahmen für kleine E-Autos und Quoten für grünen Stahl aus.

2 mins read

Orbán’s favorite Brussels think tank may be down, but it’s not out

Apr 16 5 mins read

‘No more excuses’: Von der Leyen says EU age checking app is ready

Apr 15 3 mins read

European civil servants are being forced off WhatsApp

Apr 15 5 mins read

What the US blockade of Iran means — and what it doesn’t

Apr 14 5 mins read

UK government: We’ll let you know if the World Cup beer runs out

Apr 16 2 mins read

Online age checks are coming in Europe

Apr 15 5 mins read

Opinion

Commentary

The Iran war has been good for Starmer — to a point

5 mins read

Beyond the Bubble

Thought there was enough maritime drama? Look to the Gulf of Finland.

5 mins read

Declassified

Wild animals and wilder friends: Viktor Orbán’s Brussels legacy

3 mins read

POLITICO Live

The extension of POLITICO’s unmatched political and policy journalism.

Pro Roundtable – Mobility

This invitation-only event is for POLITICO Pro subscribers and will take place in Brussels, Belgium. Join POLITICO’s Pro Mobility team to discuss everything from the impact of Donald Trump to the growing threat from China and the EU’s military mobility policy. We’ll be tackling the three main areas we cover: cars, aviation and logistics. On cars, […]

POLITICO & Bayer’s Competitive Europe Salon Dinner

This is an invitation-only event and will take place in Brussels, Belgium. POLITICO convenes a private Competitive Europe Salon Dinner in Brussels, presented by Bayer, bringing together senior policymakers and industry leaders for an off-the-record discussion on the future of Europe’s pharmaceutical sector. At a time of mounting geopolitical and economic pressure, the conversation will […]

AI & Tech Week 2026

Join the 9th POLITICO AI & Tech Summit to hear from EU policymakers, industry leaders, and tech innovators on how Europe can lead in AI and drive innovation amidst shifting global geopolitics.

Pro Roundtable – Financial Services UK

This invitation-only event is for POLITICO Pro subscribers and will take place in London, United Kingdom. Join POLITICO’s financial services journalists in the U.K. to discuss the challenges facing the Labour government as Chancellor Rachel Reeves attempts to push the City of London and consumers into more risk-taking with deregulation continuing to be the hot […]

Palantir bid wins £330M British health service contract – POLITICO

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:39:20 +0000

Palantir bid wins £330M British health service contract

Data firm has courted controversy because of links to former Donald Trump donor Peter Thiel.

Free article usually reserved for subscribers

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

November 21, 2023 3:52 pm CET

By Vincent Manancourt

LONDON — Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) on Tuesday awarded a £330 million contract to run a new data platform to a bid spearheaded by U.S. tech company Palantir.

Under a deal initially set to run for five years, Palantir, alongside Accenture and PwC, will provide a “Federated Data Platform” to the NHS. The platform is a bid to connect the many different data systems within the U.K.’s sprawling, publicly-funded healthcare system.

Health bosses say the FDP will improve patient care and stop patients having to repeatedly explain their ailments to staff at different hospitals.

But the tender had attracted criticism from campaigners, who fret that it will give Palantir a central role in Britain’s cherished NHS.

Palantir, which had long been tipped to win the contract, has courted controversy because of links to former Donald Trump donor Peter Thiel and work for national security agencies and militaries.

“The safety and security of patient data is front and centre of this new system,” Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said as she confirmed the decision on Tuesday. “As happens currently, there will be clear rules and auditability covering who can access this data, what they can see, and what they can do.”

The provider of the software would not hold or have access to NHS data, which would not leave the U.K., Atkins added.

Still, the government said it had awarded an additional contract to a separate company to deliver privacy enhancing technology “as an additional safeguard to enhance the security of data used in the FDP.”

Ahead of the announcement Cori Crider, co-founder of Foxglove, an NGO that has campaigned against Palantir, said: “The FDP will also fail unless government urgently moves to close the trust gap. Every prior effort to centralize NHS data has failed because people didn't trust officials to protect their health records from other departments or private companies.”

In June, the NHS awarded a £24 million contract to Palantir to transition its current projects with the health service — which include COVID-19 work — to the new federated data platform supplier.

Update: This story has been updated to clarify the value of the deal, which had originally been slated as £480 million. In its press release today, however, the NHS said that over the contractual period of seven years, there will be up to £330m investment in the Federated Data Platform and associated services.

Roastidio.us in webspace https://www.politico.eu/

Dutch scandal serves as a warning for Europe over risks of using algorithms – POLITICO

No checks and balances

A warning to the rest of Europe

Ukraine rebukes Rheinmetall over CEO’s ‘play with Legos’ drone insult – POLITICO

France and UK to co-host talks on securing Strait of Hormuz – POLITICO

Philipp Woldin – POLITICO

Lennart Pfahler – POLITICO

Alexander Dinger – POLITICO

Inside Germany’s far-left war on infrastructure – POLITICO

‘Disconnect’

Cat and mouse

Power failure

Police raids

OpenAI puts ‘Stargate UK’ on hold in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions – POLITICO

Growing pains

8 in 10 Europeans don’t trust US, Chinese firms with data – POLITICO

EU should relax net-zero target, German energy minister says – POLITICO

Europe to burned American scientists: We’ll take you in – POLITICO

Open doors, open labs

Intellectual gold rush

Émile Marzolf – POLITICO

Ellen O’Regan – POLITICO

Eliza Gkritsi – POLITICO

Online age checks are coming in Europe – POLITICO

Gaining momentum

POLITICO – European Politics, Policy, Government News

Latest news

Editors’ picks

POLITICO Pro

Thin ice, thick tensions: Europe and polar power politics

Most read