It began with coal and steel. But from the very start, our Union was always meant to be much more. 75 years ago, in Paris, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, Europe chose a different path. One of unity over division, of peace over war.

Best for Britain has brought out a new report on the future of Euro-British relations. This is certainly a big departure for them from their previous legitimation of the May-Johnson redlines. It calls for an application to join Europe (well, not exactly, see down) A 🧵 www.bestforbritain.o...

Indeed: the Euro may now be considered a safe haven instead of a drag. Especially as it now becomes increasingly clear Brexiters are by-and-large more anti- than pro-UK.

The Guardian: More than half of Britons support rejoining EU 10 years on from Brexit vote www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

UK cannot stop the boats; only Europe can do that:

We'll see if Starmer survives (I think yes), but there is another point: The US admin is shown to be truly toxic, in the sense that everyone that touches them gets poisoned and corrupted. Do not touch them with a ten foot pole.

I note that point B) was a big reason why PM Johnson had to go: His MPs did not mind so much that they had to lie, but the near-inmediate exposure of their lies by UK gov was too much. Not at all clear if Starmer is there yet, btw.

“Given the jingoism of the times, the EU’s political resilience is striking, even weird,” writes Janan Ganesh www.ft.com/content/927e...

On the positive developments with respect to EU-UK relations. For sure the UK will get nowhere if its approach to EU won't change, but we are seeing a more constructive attitude developing in UK. UK gov should build the public case for this. Backroom deals will lead to another Brexit.

An excellent article describing the evolving EU-UK relations. It is good to see that attitudes towards the EU are changing in UK, and its - especially - good to see that the understanding of the EU positions by UK is seen as important. ecipe.org/insights/new...

This is by the way a very apt point: Did NATO even coordinate defence procurement accross its members?

For sure alinment to EU rules is quite some work, and is a 'job for life', since EU regulations are constantly evolving. However, all 27 EU members, and to a lesser extent Norway and Switzerland manage this, so the difficulties should not be overstated. The question is far more if the UK wants it

For sure the UK can take part, but the UK should - of course - contribute financially if it wants to take part. Furthermore, the EU should - again obviously - retain control over the fund.

He won’t be missed.

Pope Leo XIV is not only the shepherd of the Roman Catholic flock across the globe, but a symbol of moral courage and clarity in a time where such compasses are increasingly needed.   His voice is one that Europeans of all faiths - and none - listen to, appreciate and respect.

A warm welcome to the UK joining Erasmus+ as of 1 January 2027. The 🆕 mobility offers opportunities for students, staff, youth & sportspeople on equal footing with 🇪🇺 member states, and partnerships between organisations on both sides of the Channel. 🔗 link.europa.eu/c7kwpC

Deeply buried in the report is the reality: "..the system is working very well.." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

"..Events have refuted every Eurosceptic myth.." Great to see people in UK calling unapologetically for Rejoin. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We should start thinking of a name: ENATO? NETO? ETO? EDTO? (European Defence Treaty Organisation)? FWTO (Free World Treaty Organisation)? (to account for Canana)?

New TPI research shows that Brexit redirected £22bn of UK outward investment and over 100k jobs into the EU from 2016-2019 This was driven by regulatory friction, not tariffs. The message: deeper UK–EU regulatory cooperation matters. Full findings: www.productivity.ac.uk/research/cer...

🚨🚨Was too late to brief @elisabraun.bsky.social on this, but this is a great report on the incoming Hungarian PM's wow for #Hungary to join the #EPPO which has powers to potentially reopen scrutiny of how #Brussels funds were used under Viktor #Orbán’s rule. 🧵 www.euractiv.com/news/eu-pros...

Hope not hate is doing very good work in exposing the grifting by Reform and its candidates. Sure its shooting fish in a barrel, but still somebody has to do it.

Very good if the UK would bring its military ambitions in line with its (financial) abilities.

In the Netherlands a "freedom contribution" (an additional tax) may be imposed to pay for increased defence spending. Concluding that there is a new world order means also acting on it. "Free lunchtime" is over.

These are probably just start-up problems. Airlines should however plan more time for EU entry checks. Its important to guard the outside borders of the EU

The remarkable thing to me is that people are openly saying they voted for Brexit, even though they are now in trouble because of that.

At first it was not clear to me, but this is actually logical: MPs get a vote on the principle of dynamic alignment. After that, it happens automatically. This is the only way that it can work, since EU SPS rules are constantly evolving, and parliamentary procedures are simply too slow for that.

Welcome again to the first rule of European politics: |￣￣￣￣￣￣ | | TROIKA | | ALWAYS | | WINS | | ＿＿＿＿＿＿| (\__/) || (•ㅅ•) || / 　 づ

I did not want to believe it until it happened. Wonderfull, and good news especially for Hungary:

Interesting on the way that even his most committed supporters in the U.K. are distancing themselves from Trump. Ofcom needs to get a grip on GB News which is clearly an agent of foreign influence.

YouGov find just 30% of people think we were right to leave the EU. The lowest number yet. Just 10% of 18-24 year olds think it was the right decision.

Who could have guesses that the ‘Board of Peace’ has stalled? Apparently the payments to Trump are an issue…

For sure this should happen, but massive work and creativity is needed to solve the issues of 1) control, and 2) funding It would be good to make an ‘organic start’ to this by increasing bi- and multilateral cooperation within the EU.

Reform grifters will grift:

- sagely strokes negotiation expert goatee - Hmm... ... with my years of experience and expertise I diagnose that the problem here might be how hard it is to talk someone out of a position that would net them huge leverage and the equivalent to 5% of their GDP in free annual toll revenue.

Besides the unwanted interference, its such epic nonsense: - Hungary has become dirt poor under Orban - there is no way this will be changed either by Trump or Putin.

The regular reminder that UK did Brexit and now it cannot stop the boats. Good that France reject this. Now also end one-in-one out. The only acceptable deal is that UK takes in EU refugees.

US accepts Iranian demand. They must want the Strait of Hormuz open really bad. It would be good if Israel is now also forced to end their invasion of Lebanon.

My hunch is that for the foreseeable future, a safe bet for any UK election is as follows: 1. <any party most likely to beat Reform> 2. Reform 3. The rest

This is good news, and underlines the good work of the Good Law Project:

If your only job is to say no to everything, you don't need any knowledge:

🚨🚨In the massive geopolitical chaos caused by the #Trump presidency's war-mongering and #Russian invasion of #Ukraine more and more countries flock to the EU as the last bastion of peace, security and econonomic prosperity. 🧵 www.politico.eu/article/mont...

Excellent ( + example for others in Europe):

Extraordinary to see the UK PM putting Trump and Putin together like this, and referring to 'Trump' not 'President Trump'. A lot has changed in the last few weeks - this would have been unimaginable six months ago - and I don't see how it changes back. www.politico.eu/article/star...

Eternally surprised by some people. I really thought Frost was not our friend, and at the minimum out for himself only. Still welcome. We live and learn.

NATO is a defensive alliance, so it naturally stayed out of the US/Isr. war of agression. The critisism of Trump is thus not justified, and not understandable. Rutte - as SG of NATO - should know this.

Fascinating, Zelensky coming out publicly more and more and saying that Trump is working with/for Putin. The Ukrainians seem to have determined that telling the truth is preferable to lying to please Trump.

Really important to keep sucking up to Trump in the hopes that he briefly hesitates before failing to honor Article V.

The UK is now experiencing the flip side of this as it is slowly drifing away from Europe.