About: The Brief Archives

Twenty years ago, on a sunny Saturday on 1 May 2004, three former Soviet Republics, three former Soviet satellite countries (one of them having split in two), one former Yugoslav republic, and two former British colonies joined the EU.

European fisheries are at the heart of a diplomatic crisis brewing between the EU and the UK, their first trade spat since the UK left the European Union in February 2020.

In the US and France, 1968 was a year of iconic student protests. In light of this historic legacy, what is the 2024 wave of student protests, from Columbia University to Sciences Po, telling us?

“Partnerships” between big tech firms and AI startups are under the regulatory microscope. The likes of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have rushed to build strong collaborations with the rising stars of the AI world, such as OpenAI, Mistral AI, and Stability AI.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's recent visit to China is an example of a “do-it-alone” foreign policy approach which can only benefit the Middle Kingdom.

As Brussels emerges from a severe case of last week's ‘Lettamania’, the question must be asked: Who will benefit? 

The New European Bauhaus, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s pet project, has failed spectacularly, and it is mostly her own fault.

Is it possible that a single piece of legislation could sway Georgia - an official candidate for EU membership since December - away from its EU path? And if so, does it mean that Vladimir Putin is winning back this former Soviet republic, the birthplace of Stalin?

When former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta presented his long-awaited report on the future of the single market to European leaders on Thursday, he was careful not to play up its significance.

France has invited Russia to the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, an event that changed the course of World War Two. “Given the circumstances,” the organisers said, President Vladimir Putin is not invited but another figure, to be announced later, will represent Russia on 6 June.

The European Parliament will vote on the EU Council’s 2022 financial discharge during the last plenary session of this term, starting next week. Is the Council holding its breath? Not at all.

It’s a political conundrum that’s been plaguing Europe for a decade, and Croatia is getting a taste of it this week: A parliamentary election in the newest EU member pits a conservative party entrenched in power for almost a decade against a host of fragmented contenders, led by the fledgling Social Democrats.

It’s the same drones and almost the same missiles. But Israel’s outstanding air defences and the decisive help it got from a mighty coalition of allies, including the US, wildly surpass anything Ukraine can hope for.

A subtle but unmistakable change is rippling through tech policy in Brussels and the discussion is moving towards a place where tech is primarily a tool for sovereignty while competitiveness in global markets is the top priority. 

It often happens that news flying below the radar ends up being quite significant. Case in point: The announcement that two dozen German soldiers arrived in Vilnius on Monday, with a further 150 due to join them later this year, barely made headlines outside Lithuania.

The EU is embracing an industrial competitiveness deal for the rest of the decade, with key actors floating proposals like deeper European integration or just wholesale deregulation, while key conflicts are resurfacing.

The end of the saga on the temporary liberalisation of Ukraine's imports to the EU could mark a new start in relations between Brussels and Kyiv.

Six years ago, the Brief imagined the ethical challenge that killer robots, possessing, artificial intelligence and presumably looking like Terminator, would pose.

Faced with the far-reaching implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and a global energy crisis from 2021 onwards, European governments have embraced a Keynesian approach, spending billions to keep companies afloat and help consumers. But those times are over.

Editorialists can sometimes feel bad if they read columns they wrote a couple of years ago or even a couple of months ago. I start today's Brief with this disclaimer.

While the European Commission released its guidelines on how to avoid the abuse of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in June's EU elections, the internet was ablaze with theories that a video intended to show the wellbeing of Kate Middleton, a member of the British Royal Family, was fake and created by AI.

With China and the US striving to dominate the world’s future clean-tech markets, European politicians have developed a renewed appetite for protectionism - and Europe’s wind power industry is poised to harvest this drive.

After the rigged Russian elections, Vladimir Putin is now presenting a fake narrative about the terrible terrorist attack that struck Moscow last Friday, pointing the finger at Ukraine and ignoring the obvious Islamic State signature.

As we approach the European elections, competitiveness is the talk of the hour. And yet, with industrial competitiveness taking centre stage in economic policy debates, it is worth keeping in mind that rising carbon prices will make some industries even less competitive in the future – by design.