I done a crossword! Sample clues: • Dampened shell-like? (6) • Endure it, as drunk becomes less sober (10) • Lots of people pinching the capital of Ebenezer Scrooge (5) Edition 282 available here www.piemag.com

TIL that the song You Can Call Me Al, which is an absolute banger, was inspired, indirectly but remarkably, by the avantgardiste composer Pierre Boulez

More highly educated people use AI more, both for professional and personal reasons, says the @ec.europa.eu

It is 2026, and all of Europe recognises the supremacy of EU law. All? No, one indomitable law firm, etc etc

What does the Iran war mean for EU energy policy? @jackschickler.bsky.social, Ciarán Sunderland and I tried to answer this in our live podcast recording. Watch it back on @contexte.com for all our analysis 👇 www.contexte.com/eu/article/e...

Got to hand it to Politco, this story really has legs www.politico.eu/article/spai...

Hardly the oddest thing in this whole saga but ... Mathias Döpfner's leading example of a self-evident fact is ... not even true? The biggest democracy in the world is India. jewishinsider.com/2026/04/poli...

TIL that Leni Riefenstahl died in 2003, thus living long enough to see Stuart Little 2

In Brussels’ Parc Royale, you can tell it’s spring

Margaritis Schinas, former EU Commissioner and spokesperson, has been appointed Greek agriculture minister, says Reuters: www.reuters.com/business/fin...

The lineup at Glastonbury this year looks pretty decent

I’m not making any specific accusations but the City of Paris has a minister responsible for both funerals and sustainable food

I have a joke about a non-performing loan but I'd have to write it down

Looking forward to explaining this bold 21st-century reform to all my French colleagues today www.gov.uk/government/n...

⚡🥳 On recrute un journaliste énergie à Paris chez @contexte.com www.welcometothejungle.com/fr/companies... À la clef : sujets passionnants, rédac indépendante qui bosse hyper bien entre les rubriques, délicieux gâteaux et blagues pourries 🌞

No comment on the substance, but this is the first time I've ever seen a formal "communication" adopted by the European Commission that doesn't read like it was written on a typewriter in 1954 It has ... pictures! Colours! Columns! ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/i...

Interview - Deregulation could spell the end of the EU, Ribera warns ✍️ Anna Hubert et Anca Gurzu

In inboxes as of this morning: Contexte's second-ever English-language briefing, Power, helping navigate the long game of EU policy. ⚙️ Inner workings of the institutions 🥷 Power struggles within political alliances 🚘 Who's driving Europe’s defining decisions ➡️ www.contexte.com/eu/section/p...

BRUSSELS LOBBYISTS, HERE'S SOME FREE SLOGAN IDEAS COPA-COGECA: Cash in the Till WindEurope: Big Fans of Big Fans European Packaging Association: Yes, We Can ... plus more as soon as I think of one

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse

The European Parliament will next week debate the situation of the rule of law in the United States (!)

Guess Germany’s leading insurer hired the Abrdn consultants huh

Responding to a SpAd's all-caps email with "this is really helpful" is just the most Civil Servant thing that ever Civil Servanted

Model in a lame movie (7) #cryptic #crossword #easytarget

In the Contexte energy briefing today: 🇺🇸 What's next for the EU-US energy deal? ☢️ The EU's Soviet-era nuclear reactors switch fuel 🌊 North Sea Summit pledges 15GW of yearly offshore wind www.contexte.com/briefing/202...

Don't bogart that joint position, my friend (A case being ruled at the ECJ next week)

In France, they don't say "medical problem", they say "fashion opportunity"

Hard to imagine another scenario in which this would not lead to an immediate recall of ambassadors

Once you have paid him the Dane-geld // You never get rid of the Dane

In today's energy briefing: 📅 Brussels' packed energy agenda 🇺🇸 IRENA's budget hole 👨‍⚖️ Nord Stream goes to court www.contexte.com/briefing/202...

When it comes to phasing out Russian energy, most of the EU's focus (and financial bill) has been on gas. @annahbrt.bsky.social unpicks what might happen when Brussels comes for Russian uranium. In @energy.contexte.com today: www.contexte.com/eu/article/e...

Your honour, I did not mug him, I merely asked for money after implying there might be violence www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Lads I just saw the best sign ever

Quiz - Jouez à Bioguess, le cadeau de Noël de Contexte ✍️ Yann Guégan

Already finished off the Ferrero Rocher? Run out of excuses for hiding from the in-laws? Worried your EU nerdiness will wear off over the holidays? Play BioGuess, a Christmas game by Contexte: www.contexte.com/eu/article/e...

I also want to say thank you to the person who introduced me to the French word 'beaucoup' this year. It means a lot.

Contexte is hiring! For an English-language EU energy reporter, based in Brussels. If you're a scoop-hungry, teamworky, sharp storyteller, with knowledge of the EU and/or energy policy, apply within: lhttps://www.welcometothejungle.com/fr/companies/contexte/jobs/energy-policy-reporter_bruxelles

In today's Contexte EU energy briefing: 🔌 Full analysis of the the EU's leaked grids package 🛣️ The 8 "energy highways" the Commission will prioritise 🐼 Leaked "environment omnibus" plans to streamline permits 🇺🇦 The final legislative text banning Russian gas www.contexte.com/briefing/202...

They did it via a shell company

Rule number one of crisis comms: put everything out there. Yet it's hard not to conclude that one of these two people, Commission senior official Sannino or anonymous spokesperson, is being deliberately misleading here. (from @eddywax.bsky.social and @nicolettaionta.bsky.social)

The Commission will propose something to the Commission? Now that's what I call a #circulareconomy

My Charles and Di wedding mug (age 41) has outlasted my Charles coronation mug (age 2 and a half). Not sure what to make of this fact

The cosmetics store round the corner is offering astonishingly bad advice

Who wore it better?

Two bangers published today by @energy.contexte.com: 🇧🇷 COP30: A post mortem of a disappointing summit. @genicotd.bsky.social & @vrg.bsky.social, from Belém, unpick why the EU — diverted by internal squabbles and colliding with a BRIC wall — failed to deliver. www.contexte.com/eu/article/e...

After the environment council negotiated for roughly 20 hours on Tuesday/Wednesday, now it's the Parliament's turn to figure out its position on a planned 90% emissions cut for 2040. I'm not saying MEPs are copying the member states' homework, but they've even reproduced their typos

There was once a chap named Ozymandias Whose fate tragically came to a sandy pass His vast legs of stone Just stood all alone Reaching up to his absent candy-ass

Top marks to the European Commission here; this was indeed the first question on which I was seeking an answer in relation to the 2026 fishing opportunities for EU-managed stocks in the Atlantic and Skagerrak-Kattegat waters

Went to see Bob Dylan live and thereby learned I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight is not, in fact, by UB40. I’m furious