On 3 March 2001, around ten people in a Milan hacklab assembled a server from hardware a bank was getting rid of and scavenged parts. The least experienced person present was put at the keyboard so that everyone would understand what was being built. The machine was named Paranoia. On its second day, an inverted firewa…
Everyone knows by now that Europe is rearming. That part is easy to write and carries almost nothing, because “investing in defence” survives any amount of vagueness. The interesting reading sits a little lower down, in the documents that have to name things: how much money, raised in what way, spent on what, through w…
A policy speech says what an institution wants to be seen wanting. A procurement document records what it has agreed to pay for. The two are not the same, and the gap between them is usually the more interesting reading. A press release costs nothing to write and binds no one. A call for tender names a budget, a deadli…
The story is, on paper, narrow. Solvinity, the Dutch contractor that operates infrastructure underneath Logius and DigiD, looks set to be acquired by Kyndryl, an American spin-off of IBM’s managed-services arm. DigiD itself remains owned by the Dutch state via Logius, so technically the system is still Dutch. Political…
An uncomfortable truth: Every byte uploaded to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud isn’t just data, it’s cloud capital. Coined by economist Yanis Varoufakis, the term captures how tech giants transform digital activity into privatised infrastructure. It’s not merely about hosting files; it’s about hoarding power. And right now…
Europe likes to think it is safe and secure. In reality, much of its critical infrastructure is running on borrowed time. Old systems, fragmented responsibility, and perverse incentives have left a security debt that, if left unpaid, could affect millions of lives. Some sectors carry heavier debt than others, and the c…
We often think of democratic deficits as abstract, something that lives in Brussels conference rooms and academic papers. But in practice, power without accountability isn’t just theoretical. It shows up in the bills you pay, the apps you use, the water you drink, and the politicians you never seem to be able to reach.…
Europe does not lack power. It lacks responsibility. From national governments to supranational institutions, boardrooms to bureaucracies, decisions are made daily that affect millions. And yet, ask the average citizen who actually decided to privatise their rail service, greenlight a mega-merger, or rubber-stamp a con…
The European Democracy Shield (EUDS), a name that practically screams “importance”, if not effectiveness. One imagines a shining bulwark of European resolve, standing firm against the onslaught of foreign interference, disinformation, and creeping authoritarianism. In practice, though, we might be dealing with somethin…
Neoliberalism crept into Europe wearing a sharp suit and talking about efficiency. It promised a leaner, meaner state, less red tape, more growth, and a brighter future. What it delivered was stagnant wages, crumbling services, and Jeff Bezos in a rocket. For Europe, the cost has been clear: growing inequality, weakene…
European democracy, once sold to us as government for the people, increasingly resembles government for the shareholders. The slogans haven’t changed, “freedom”, “fairness”, “choice”, but behind the scenes, the boardroom has quietly replaced the ballot box as the place where real decisions are made. It’s not that polit…
When European leaders speak of “security”, it’s worth asking: security for whom, exactly? Not for the millions navigating crumbling health systems or housing crises. Not for those struggling to afford heating or fresh food. No, the current drive to rearm Europe has little to do with public safety and far more to do wit…
For decades, European politics has resembled a Punch and Judy show, only with fewer laughs and more austerity. On one side, the market-worshipping neoliberals clutching their spreadsheets and “fiscal responsibility.” On the other, vaguely embarrassed centrists who occasionally tut at inequality but still vote for trade…
As Israel’s slaughter in Gaza grinds on, now in its twentieth month, with over 45,000 dead, most of them women and children, and nearly every hospital, school, and home reduced to rubble, one might expect Europe, that self-proclaimed bastion of human rights, to muster more than a few limp statements of concern. Instead…