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On tech, the EU doesn't speak for Europe:
The European Commission of President Ursula von der Leyen vowed in 2019 to make "a Europe fit for the digital age," dubbing the 2020s Europe's "digital decade."
Building on the European Union's flagship privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Brussels's regulatory race to the top gained historic momentum over the past four years. And from digital markets to content moderation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, computer chips and data governance, the Commission has left little on the table in terms of regulation.
Bolstered by mended ties with the administration of United States President Joe Biden and increased coordination with the U.S. through the Trade and Technology Council (TTC), the von der Leyen Commission seems to have achieved the impossible in an often rancorous 27-member bloc — a unified Europe around a common digital agenda.
But this narrative of unity obfuscates a much more complex reality in which the Commission's policies are dominated by its two largest — and most zealously regulatory — countries: France and Germany. In fact, Europe's smaller but most tech-oriented members rarely feel heard in the halls of Brussels, even as they often disagree with the Commission's agenda.
Privately, officials from these countries say the Commission's strategy will hamper innovation by imposing complex compliance rules on smaller companies that can't afford to implement them. They also worry that foreign investment — particularly from U.S. investors, which are responsible for a whopping 76 percent of foreign investment in European tech companies — will wane as the Commission goes after large American tech firms. And many lament that Brexit took away the United Kingdom's counterbalancing voice, leaving a vacuum for France and Germany to fill.
While these concerns are rarely aired publicly, simply put, Central and Northern Europe know that when it comes to tech, the EU doesn't speak for Europe.
And no wonder: None of the EU's major institutions — the Commission, the European Council or the European Parliament — have Central Europeans at the helm, even as the power balance in Europe shifts eastward after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Proportional representation in the Parliament also means that the largest countries — France, Germany and Italy — have the most power in terms of votes. Even if all the Nordic, Baltic and Central European countries voted as a block — which they don't — they would still have fewer votes (191) than just France, Germany and Italy (251).
As a result, smaller countries then need to prioritize focusing on the most critical issues — defense and security — and the Parliament's ability to set Europe's tech agenda is then hamstrung by the Commission's sole power to propose legislation.
But just as the power balance on defense and deterrence is shifting to the east and north, so are the economic headwinds when it comes to tech innovation and investment.
For example, Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn have higher growth rates for capital invested in startups than London, Munich and Paris. And while unicorns — or firms valued at $1 billion or more and are still predominantly privately owned — in Western Europe still raise nearly double the amount of money as those in "new Europe," the latter has the highest valuation-to-investment ratio on the Continent.
In short, tech companies in Central and Eastern Europe do more with less.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Wednesday May 31 2023, @06:11PM (2 children)
The same people who decided that ASML's technology shouldn't be used for any serious chip production in the USA?
Seriously, MT, it is nice weather -- take the metro, pick up an ice cream cone, and watch the tourists stream across the Karluv Most while the sun sets: your stacks are overflowing, your circuits are overheating.
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Wednesday May 31 2023, @06:59PM (1 child)
With our political mainstream currently posting news literally titled as "In a Third World War we will become a rear", there is no more time for strolling. It's barely time for checking preps.
https://echo24.cz/a/HTJmU/tydenik-echo-anaylza-kaiser-dohoda-o-cesko-americke-obranne-spolupraci-cernochova [echo24.cz]
Fun Fact: Appendix A of the fresh new signed Czech-American DCA treaty which lists military facilities taken over by Americans is exactly the same as list of nuclear targets by Americans in a Cold War.
The only difference is they are now nuclear targets for Russians.
So. After 30 years, we achieved nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
(Score: 1, Troll) by khallow on Wednesday May 31 2023, @10:47PM
I glanced at said treaty. No facilities are "taken over" by the US - it merely expedites the usage of Czech military bases. It might at some point be a prelude to a future takeover, but that would require a lot more effort on the US's part and a compliant Czech Republic. And I would wonder where the US would get the resources for supporting such a takeover? Military procurement and logistics has gotten quite inefficient in the past few decades.
As to the claim of "achieved nothing", there's a number of factors missing from your consideration. First, living under the boot of Soviet Russia would suck vastly more than the Czech Republic. Similarly, there's strong signs Russian nukes don't work so well anymore (after all, if Russia didn't feel it important to have working military gear for a major invasion, then they've probably cut corners on a lot of other vital security matters like working nukes). And fewer Russian nukes are spread over more and more targets. The Russians don't have as many deployable nukes now as the US had 30 years ago and they're generating more and more nuclear targets with their terrible foreign policy.
It's significantly better once you pay attention to what's going on.