EU - the EU needs more defence autonomy, even while the US remains an important ally - they can not be in control of EU defence policy or foreign affairs for that matter.

The Aukus deal shows the need for more military collaboration between EU states but the US remains an indispensable partner.- 

On the same evening French president Emmanuel Macron found out that the US had secretly struck a defence deal with Australia that cut France out of a submarine contract, he announced a military triumph of his own. Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, leader of the terrorist group Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, had been killed “by French forces”. The coincidence was an awkward one for Macron. To him, the Aukus deal was clear vindication of the argument that France, and Europe, must build a defence alliance that is not dependent on a fickle US. Yet the assassination of a leading militant was a French military success that Macron well knew owed much to its superpower ally across the Atlantic.

Read more at: https://www.ft.com/content/f14c3e59-30bb-4686-8ba3-18ff860647e7

EU: On the way to a European digital public sphere - by Barbara Thomaß

The European public sphere has become dysfunctional. Against this background, a debate has unfolded in recent years about a European digital public sphere (EDPS), exploring the possibilities of how another communicative digital infrastructure can emerge—not subject to the deformations resulting from the dominance of the United States digital giants of ‘GAFAM’ (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft).

The idea is there as a rough sketch: a public space for digital communication in Europe should make knowledge and content generated with public funds digitally accessible and useable for a broad public. In the debate on this European digital sphere, the perspective has evolved from a super-platform to a decentralised model of networked platforms.

Read more at: On the way to a European digital public sphere – Barbara Thomaß

The Netherlands - Global Warmimg: IMF says Dutch economy is recovering, but more needed in climate change fight

The strong economic recovery of the Netherlands justifies the Cabinet's decision to stop the massive coronavirus economic support packages. But the continuing direction of the coronavirus pandemic remains "uncertain" and politicians in The Hague will have to remain ready to reactivate support programs such as the NOW scheme if necessary, according to researchers from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Read more at: IMF says Dutch economy is recovering, but more needed in climate change fight | NL Times

Democracy: How democracy can win again – by Gergely Karácsony

My political awakening coincided with the systemic changes that unfolded following the collapse of communism in Hungary in 1989. I was both fascinated and overjoyed by my country’s rapid democratisation. As a teenager, I persuaded my family to drive me to the Austrian border to see history in the making: the dismantling of the Iron Curtain, which allowed east-German refugees to head for the west. Reading many new publications and attending rallies for newly established democratic political parties, I was swept up by the atmosphere of unbounded hope for our future.

Today, such sentiments seem like childish naivety, or at least the product of an idyllic state of mind. Both democracy and the future of human civilisation are now in grave danger, beset by multifaceted and overlapping crises.

Read more at: How democracy can win again – Gergely Karácsony