Yesterday I presented my draft report on the Hungarian rule of law. My message: the Hungarian RoL has worsened significantly. Therefore, the EU must freeze more funds and take away Orbán's veto. I look forward to working with my pro-democratic colleagues on this resolution.

"The problem is no longer confined to specific policy areas or individual member states such as Hungary or Slovakia. From German local authorities attempting to oppress pro-Palestinian demonstrations, Italy’s prime minister discrediting the judiciary .. a dangerous pattern is emerging across the EU"

Call for Proposals for Special Issues of the Journal of European Integration to be published in 2027 Deadline for Submissions: 31/10/25 www.tandfonline.com/journals/geu... Feel free to contact us at [email protected] with any questions about the procedure or informal enquiries you may have.

Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach has a nice bit about Disney cancelling Kimmel. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vRX...

Where the separate divisions of ANTIFA landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944:

Join us for the VICES workshop on the Externalities of EU's digital transition for (semi)peripheral countries! From lithium mining in Serbia to Hungary's contested battery bet and data extractivism and neo-colonialism in the Global South. The bad examples are many. But maybe also the alternatives?

You have a great idea for a special issue in EU studies? Check out our call 👇

Great quote 👇 from @dmugge.bsky.social

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

Check out the Book of Abstracts👇 of June's conference @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social It offers a perfect overview of the breadth of research that's being done on the digital society Happy to be included with a short take on how EU legislation on DSA/DMA has been (de-)politicised in newspapers

If you're an author and haven't yet signed up for the Anthropic settlement, do yourself a favor (and strike a blow against AI) by checking to see if any of your books were involved. www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Interesting signalling from Ribera — there may be hope! A little extra hope because she's one of the better Commissioners. 🤞

New paper on a new topic in @policyr.bsky.social I analyse the EU’s AI Act and its place in the global governance of the AI. Examining the economy of AI + the contents of the Act, I conclude that expecting a ‘Brussels effect’ is neither apt nor useful. …. policyreview.info/articles/ana...

Super excited to share that I got the ERC Starting Grant! 🎉 Over the next five years, I’ll be studying how AI is reshaping the politics of the welfare state. A huge thank you to all the friends and colleagues who supported me along the way. vu.nl/en/news/2025... #ERCStG

PhD opportunities, including one on climate and democratic innovations. www.leuphana.de/en/graduate-...

[New paper] Brussels effect or experimentalism? The EU AI Act and global standard-setting, By @vuamsterdam.bsky.social's @bencrum.nl policyreview.info/articles/ana... #AIAct #EU #BrusselsEffect

Maria Barnas, in de Volkskrant van 30 augustus 2025 #poëzieperdag

New paper on a new topic in @policyr.bsky.social I analyse the EU’s AI Act and its place in the global governance of the AI. Examining the economy of AI + the contents of the Act, I conclude that expecting a ‘Brussels effect’ is neither apt nor useful. …. policyreview.info/articles/ana...

US-EU trade deal now also available on the Commission site. The Q&A clarifies: "The Joint Statement is a political text and not legally binding" Notably. it also says: "To the extent that legal implementation is necessary on the EU side, it will be taken forward ... ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

Yes. But credit should go to Pratap B. Mehta for making this point eloquently (link in my piece).

Forceful by @drodrik.bsky.social: “At any other time in recent history, the Trump administration’s behavior would immediately be called out for what it is: imperialism – plain and simple” Also, “the European Union has perhaps been the greatest disappointment”

Please support our new ask to EU governments to maintain passengers’ rights in Europe by signing eci.ec.europa.eu/054/public/#...

New and useful guidance on meaningful human intervention in automated decision-making from the Dutch Data Protection Authority autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/en/documents...

This is key 👇 One can debate the economics of the EU-Trump But its politics means that the EU has been co-opted in a game of maffia-politics that is meant to evade legal and democratic control

🚨 New publication alert! Excited to share my latest article with @audreyvdleene.bsky.social, just out in @govandopp.bsky.social: "Transcending the National: QCA Insights into Multilevel Party Organization in the EU" Full open access 👇 🔗 doi.org/10.1017/gov....

An der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main sowie der TU Darmstadt werden im Rahmen des DFG-geförderten Graduiertenkollegs „Ästhetik der Demokratie“ (GRK 3113-1) bis zu zwölf Stellen als Wissenschaftliche*r Mitarbeiter*in (m/w/d) (65%-Teilzeit,... https://www.theorieblog.de/?p=29930

🧨 New revelation in the Pfizergate affair over Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s texts with the Pfizer CEO. The European Commission admitted to the New York Times this week that it lost the texts only after I made an official request for them. 🧵

Job alert! Postdoc position available in my project on EU economic governance — with a focus on fiscally conservative member states. www.academictransfer.com/en/jobs/3536...

No such a thing as an ‘illiberal democracy' which makes as much conceptual sense as "democratic dictatorship" and in any event, ‘illiberal democracy' in theory = structurally rigged electoral framework, authoritarianism and 'mafia state' in practice utppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3...

We ran some initial estimates on what today’s EU budget proposal could mean. The numbers aren’t official yet, so details might still change - but the overall picture looks a lot more positive than I expected. Three quick takeaways:

Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’ Extraordinary work by my colleagues here on.ft.com/4kE1EUn

Some useful additional numbers on yesterday’s Commission censure vote in the European Parliament 👇 Good that @hannecl.bsky.social highlights the absentees, and how many suddenly turned up again at the next vote, a few minutes later www.politico.eu/article/ursu...

Most notable on the Commission censure vote: ECR factions of Fratelli d'Italia and ODS (CZ) simply shunned the vote. Hence, the overwhelming majority of the ECR group supported the censure. Only the Belgian and Dutch ECR members came out in support of von der Leyen

Best take on the Von der Leyen censure vote by @eddywax.bsky.social "By casting the motion as a frenzied far-right push from pro-Putin MEPs [...], she successfully reframed the debate as one of good against evil and democracy against illiberalism" But I'm partial .. www.euractiv.com/section/poli...

Will the ECR party-group make 2029? The 'governmental' factions (IT, B, CZ) have the problem that they don't have a choice (they won't join EPP soon). In contrast, for the 'extremists' (esp. ROM and POL), the step towards the Patriots or even the ESN group is not too big.

Interesting op-ed by @alemanno.bsky.social 👇 I am not convinced the EU should be turned into a parliamentary-majoritarian system However, I do agree that the political centre should use this moment to get commitments from von der Leyen, but rather in terms of transparency and accountability

Kan de overheid ‘het’ nog wel? Nee, onze Kamerleden zijn chronisch uitgeput en weten te weinig

This type or research has already been done in Germany, but so cool to see it about the Netherlands. It shows that “elevated exposure to Nazi concentration camps leads to reduced support for modern-day, far-right politics in the Netherlands” link.springer.com/article/10.1...

To sum up: Poland seems to want the new MFF to look a lot like the old one - just bigger. That’s unlikely to land well with countries like Germany or the Netherlands, where a budget modernisation agenda is the main starting point of the debate.

The Commission’s big EU budget proposal lands in two weeks. Now, the Polish government has published its position - and it offer an interesting glimpse into the negotiation drama ahead.

This comparsion in the NYTimes today is pretty stark. China is racing ahead to be a high-tech exporter of 21st century technologies, while the US is doubling down on being a petro-state exporting the technologies of the 19th century: www.nytimes.com/inte...

Very pleased to publish my take on the 2024 European Parliament Elections and its consequences in the 2024 Annual Review of the Journal of Common Market Studies I hope it offers a useful recap (also for teaching) + insight in 4 trends to watch 1/5 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Colleagues with expertise in the study of 'AI' have published an open letter that calls on universities and policy makers in Higher Education to take a more critical stance towards the normalization and adoption of 'AI' in education. Please consider signing this! openletter.earth/open-letter-...

Zeker 200.000 mensen in Boedapest. Zoals de burgemeester zei: vrijheid laat zich niet wegdrukken.

"The wording appears to have been stolen from the adult entertainment industry"!

📝Sign the Petition: Say No to Mass Surveillance at Budapest Pride. The use of facial recognition systems in public spaces is becoming a reality in the EU despite laws designed to protect us, violating our #FundamentalRights. Add your signature ➡️ algorithmwatch.org/en/pridewith...