Today’s edition is powered by AIJN European Fruit Juice Association<\/b><\/p>\n
100% fruit juice:<\/b><\/p>\n
A unique and healthy composition that supports healthier diets across Europe. Highly regulated with no added sugar by law, recent scientific research has revealed new health benefits.<\/p>\n
Read more about AIJN\u2019s vision for a healthy and sustainable future here.<\/a><\/p>\n In the capital<\/p>\n \nAs Donald Trump renewed his attacks on Europe\u2019s tech regulation rules, which he considers censorship, the death of a French streamer suggests the opposite problem: Europe\u2019s Digital Services Act, designed as a safeguard against online harms, proved powerless in practice.\n<\/p>\n \nFrance\u2019s regulator was unable to stop Kick \u2013 an Australia-based platform that officials say<\/a> lacked any legal representative in Europe until the incident \u2013 from broadcasting the slow and harrowing decline of streamer Rapha\u00ebl Graven<\/a>. His death made international headlines and sparked Parisian calls for stronger safeguards.\n<\/p>\n \nProsecutors in the country launched<\/a> a criminal investigation into Kick on Tuesday, examining whether it violated the DSA\u2019s requirement to report life-threatening risks to a national regulator. The country\u2019s digital minister, Clara Chappaz, also announced plans to sue the platform.\n<\/p>\n \nThe case has placed the DSA under fresh scrutiny. Passed with the intention of creating a safer and fairer online environment, the system divides enforcement between national regulators for smaller platforms, like Kick, and the European Commission for giants with over 45 million monthly users such as Meta and Apple. In practice, both sides have hesitated.\n<\/p>\n \nAbout 18 months after the rules took effect, Brussels has yet to impose a single fine for content moderation breaches. The Commission\u2019s grand test case against Elon Musk\u2019s X has languished for more than a year.\n<\/p>\n \nTo call the DSA a failure would be premature. Enforcement is complex and the law\u2019s provisions remain vague. With no case law to steer them, regulators are left to improvise \u2013 even as the internet races ahead, spewing fresh hazards like AI-driven disinformation faster than Brussels can blink.\n<\/p>\n \nThe Commission has been moving slowly, aware that any ruling would set a precedent, sketching the boundaries of how far platforms must go to blunt the risks they unleash.\n<\/p>\n \nFar from being a threat to free speech \u2013 as US Vice President J.D. Vance claimed in a notorious February speech<\/a> \u2013 the law looks rather toothless. Yet Donald Trump\u2019s latest tariff threat on countries with \u201cdigital taxes, legislation, rules or regulation\u201d provoked a familiar chorus in Brussels.\n<\/p>\n \nCentrist MEPs leapt to defend<\/a> the DSA as non-negotiable; some even called for the EU to brandish its anti-coercion instrument. The Commission repeated that digital rules were not part of the recent trade deal.\n<\/p>\n \nA few voices admit the shortcomings. Speaking to The Capitals, Pierre-Marie Vedrenne, a French centrist MEP, admitted that the law is \u201cnot perfect\u201d and said lawmakers \u201cknow that we need to work on not only new legislation but on enforceability to give more tools to the European Commission side.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nBy contrast, the DSA\u2019s sister law, the Digital Markets Act, has managed to fine American giants such as Apple and Meta, though for competition breaches, not speech.\n<\/p>\n \nMeanwhile, Brussels looks timid. Alexandra Geese, a Green MEP from Germany, noted on LinkedIn<\/a> that EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen\u2019s only public comment since Trump\u2019s latest broadside was to post a selfie with her dog on Instagram on International Dog Day. \u201cIt would be very much appreciated if the Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty could fight for European democracy,\u201d Geese said, \u201cStart doing it!\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nAnd the next frontier looms…\n<\/p>\n \nAs AI becomes woven into daily life, users are forming romantic attachments to chatbots. Europe\u2019s regulatory framework offers no clear limits on how far these systems can go in cultivating intimacy to keep people engaged, my colleague Maximilian Henning reports<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \nMacron accuses Netanyahu of ‘illegal’ Gaza push<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nEmmanuel Macron escalated his feud with Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, urging the Israeli PM to abandon his \u201cdeadly and illegal headlong rush into permanent war in Gaza\u201d in a letter, also shared with Le Monde<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \nNetanyahu had accused<\/a> the French president of stoking antisemitism by pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state. Macron dismissed the charge as an \u201coffence to France,\u201d defended his government\u2019s record fighting anti-Jewish hatred, and argued that recognising Palestine, contingent on Hamas\u2019 surrender, was the only way to prevent endless conflict.\n<\/p>\n \nMacron is not alone in clashing with Netanyahu. Denmark PM Mette Frederiksen recently called him a “problem in himself\u201d and signalled<\/a> she was prepared to recognise Palestine, provided it is a democratic state. She also pledged to use the Danish EU council presidency to pressure Israel.\n<\/p>\n \nIn Belgium, the coalition is fractured<\/a> over the issue. PM Bart De Wever on Tuesday rejected Foreign Minister Maxime Pr\u00e9vot\u2019s push<\/a> to recognise Palestine, saying such a move would be counter-productive absent strict conditions. Pr\u00e9vot has threatened<\/a> to block the government\u2019s work \u2013 and create a political crisis<\/a> \u2013 unless it ups pressure on Israel.\n<\/p>\n \nBelgian, German leaders urge caution on frozen Russian funds<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nDe Wever and Friedrich Merz threw cold water on calls to confiscate frozen Russian assets, cautioning that such a move could backfire.\n<\/p>\n \nSpeaking at a press conference in Berlin, De Wever insisted the billions parked at Euroclear in Belgium should remain untouched for now. \u201cLegally, it’s not so simple,\u201d he said, arguing the money could prove useful in future Ukraine-Russia talks. The German chancellor echoed his concern, pointing to risks for capital markets if central bank reserves are taken.\n<\/p>\n \nEuroclear holds over \u20ac180 billion in frozen Russian assets, both public and private, blocked by the EU after Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n \n“We should keep these state funds immobilised,\u201d De Wever said, warning that hasty moves risk spooking other countries into withdrawing their reserves. Comparing the frozen assets to a “goose that lays golden eggs,” he added that they might eventually be used in peace negotiations \u2013 but until then, it was \u201cwise to keep the situation as it is.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nEU seeks answers after Libya fires on NGO ship<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nThe Commission says it has requested an explanation from Libyan authorities after a coast guard boat opened fire<\/a> on the NGO rescue vessel Ocean Viking in international waters. But Brussels avoided any discussion of consequences, stressing the priority was \u201cestablishing the facts.\u201d Officials have also ducked questions on whether the EU trusts Tripoli to conduct a credible investigation.\n<\/p>\n \nHundreds of rounds were fired at the German NGO SOS M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e\u2019s ship by the Libyan patrol on Sunday, causing serious damage but leaving the crew and survivors unharmed. The NGO demanded a full inquiry<\/a>, noting this was not the first time: in July 2023 one of its rescue boats also came under fire. Last June, Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner called Libyan authorities “dodgy”<\/a>\u00a0but insisted Brussels should still engage in dialogue with them.\n<\/p>\n The capitals<\/p>\n \nPARIS<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nFrance is bracing for fresh political turmoil as PM Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou heads toward what looks like certain defeat in a confidence vote set for 8 September. With the Socialists, the far-left France Unbowed and Marine Le Pen\u2019s National Rally united against him, Bayrou\u2019s fall would leave President Emmanuel Macron facing stark choices<\/a>: appoint another prime minister, call new elections, or contemplate relinquishing the presidency itself.\n<\/p>\n \nBERLIN<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nGermany and Canada have agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals<\/a>, as Berlin tries to wean itself off Chinese supply chains. Beijing mines around 70%<\/a> and processes about 90% of rare earths, essential for the production of electric car batteries, wind turbines and computer hard drives.\n<\/p>\n \nROME<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nThe standoff<\/a> between migrant rescue groups and Italy\u2019s government worsened after Mediterranea, a civilian rescue group, defied orders to disembark 10 migrants in Genoa and instead brought them to Sicily. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi insisted the state alone manages rescues at sea, as officials detained Mediterranea\u2019s ship and levied a fine.\n<\/p>\n \nMADRID<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSpain has declared 16 of its 17 regions disaster zones<\/a> as wildfires devastate vast swaths of land. PM Pedro S\u00e1nchez urged opposition parties to back a deal to confront future climate-driven crises, but the Popular Party dismissed the plan as a political manoeuvre to deflect blame.\n<\/p>\n \nWARSAW<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nPoland\u2019s government will propose new refugee rules after President Karol Nawrocki vetoed an extension of protections that cover nearly one million Ukrainians. Nawrocki, who argued the measure was too costly, won praise from Moscow, while Warsaw and Kyiv warned the decision could have grave humanitarian consequences.\n<\/p>\n \nVILNIUS<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nLithuania\u2019s parliament has confirmed Inga Ruginiene<\/a> as prime minister, following the collapse of the previous government in July over corruption. Ruginiene, 44, from the Social Democrat Party, pledged to maintain strong support for Ukraine and boost defence spending. But her coalition has drawn protests for including parties opposed to sanctions against Russia and sceptical of vaccines.\n<\/p>\n \nBUDAPEST<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nHungary\u2019s foreign minister, P\u00e9ter Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3, warned yesterday that his country could cut off electricity supplies to Ukraine if it continued to target the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, a critical conduit for Russian oil. With about 40% of Ukraine\u2019s imported<\/a> electricity flowing through Hungarian interconnectors, Szijj\u00e1rt\u00f3 said Kyiv should \u201cremember this\u201d when deciding whether to bomb the pipeline.\n<\/p>\n \nPRAGUE<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nCzech Prime Minister Petr Fiala denounced the EU\u2019s \u201cchat control\u201d proposal, designed to curb online child sexual abuse material, as an unacceptable step toward mass surveillance. Interior Minister V\u00edt Raku\u0161an backed him, saying Prague would withhold support from a plan that already lacks support across the bloc.\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/12972957-800x600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/generation-3bd348c4-4bfb-45a7-a715-157bbaa4f321-800x600.png\")
<\/p>\n