Your contact for new licenses
Ursula von der Leyen is currently working intensively on the structure of her new Commission. The Commission President intends to present the results of her deliberations on the distribution of areas of responsibility to the group chairmen in the European Parliament on Sept. 11 or 12. The exact date has not yet been set, according to parliamentary circles. The hearings of the candidates in the committees could then begin on Sept. 23. Even before that, Mario Draghi will inform the group leaders about his eagerly awaited report on competitiveness on Sept. 5, as my colleagues report in this issue.
Von der Leyen is still waiting for the latecomers among the member states: Belgium, Bulgaria and Italy have not yet named any Commissioner candidates shortly before their deadline. The first two latecomers are excused due to the internal political impasse, but not Italy. It has actually been clear for some time who Rome is sending: European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto from the ruling Fratelli d’Italia party has been considered the candidate for the post of Italian EU Commissioner for weeks. Other names are no longer circulating, even in the often highly speculative Italian press.
And yet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took until the last minute to send the personnel matter to von der Leyen, fueling speculation about the reasons. One thing is clear: Meloni was on vacation until the beginning of this week. The head of government is currently in talks with her coalition partners, Matteo Salvini from the Lega and Antonio Tajani from Forza Italia.
However, it is also clear that the shame of being ignored and left out by the top dogs Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron in the decision to nominate von der Leyen still runs deep. So why should Meloni now go all out and complete her task before the official deadline? A little bit of defiance may well play a role in the delaying tactics.
I wish you a relaxing weekend!
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba set the tone alongside Josep Borrell: The gap between the announcement of military support and the effective delivery was a handicap for Ukraine. Given the excessively long period, it is difficult for the armed forces to plan and know what they can rely on on the battlefield. At the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Kuleba specifically mentioned the additional air defense systems promised by the European partners months ago. There are also to be further delays in the delivery of ammunition.
At the first ministerial meeting after the summer break, the EU is still caught up in the discrepancy between ambition and reality. So far, only Germany has delivered and has already transferred the third Patriot system. Kuleba did not mention any names, but is likely to have his sights set on the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, which have promised systems or parts thereof. Ukraine is paying for these delays with human lives and destroyed infrastructure. The systems are ready and must now be delivered quickly.
The EU foreign policy chief backed Kuleba’s call and emphasized that Russia had fired more than 14,000 drones and 10,000 missiles at Ukraine since February 2022. It is apparently easy to promise and somewhat more difficult to deliver. Ukraine had also shown “strategic courage” with the Kursk offensive and demonstrated that Russia could be defeated. He would urge the member states to keep their promises.
Borrell also took up the Ukrainian Foreign Minister’s demand to lift the restrictions on the use of Western weapons. Ukraine must be able to use the weapons to their full extent within the framework of international law. Otherwise, the weapons would be useless. However, apart from the USA, only Great Britain and France have so far provided Ukraine with weapons with a corresponding range.
According to Kuleba, the aim is for Ukraine to be able to target legitimate military targets such as the airfields from which his country is attacked on a daily basis. “We are counting on getting the authorization and missiles that can reach these targets.” The Ukrainian may also have been thinking of the German Taurus missiles.
When asked about the concern in some member states that Germany, the most important pillar of support, could drop out due to austerity measures, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said that he would talk to the German Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the meeting. However, there are already assurances from Berlin that the promises for the current year will not be called into question. Europe’s security was at stake and this could not be made dependent on budgetary constraints.
Annalena Baerbock confirmed in Brussels that Germany intends to deliver four more IRIS-T air defense systems and additional Gepard anti-aircraft gun tanks by the end of the year. Putin is planning an even more massive “cold war” against Ukraine. The EU’s response must be a new protective shield.
The second focus of the informal meeting was the Middle East conflict. Borrell presented his proposal to put Israel’s police minister and finance minister on the sanctions list. The two far-right members of the government are accused of human rights violations and incitement to hatred. Preparations for sanctions have been initiated, said Borrell. But in the end, the ministers would have to unanimously agree to this step.
Minister Annalena Baerbock has not ruled out the possibility of Germany agreeing to sanctions against the two Israeli government ministers. However, Italy has signaled its rejection, and countries such as Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic are likely to oppose the move.
In a statement, the foreign ministers also called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so that all young people can be vaccinated against the polio virus. “The Gaza Strip has been polio-free for the past 25 years. It is alarming that the polio virus has been discovered.” An epidemic and further international spread must be avoided.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Brussels that the German government was working at full speed with local partners to bring about a humanitarian ceasefire and was doing everything it could to ensure that polio vaccinations could now also be administered. “Polio vaccinations are of no use at all if newborns cannot also be vaccinated”, she said.
Sigrid Kaag, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, briefed the foreign ministers on the dramatic situation. The former Dutch Finance Minister also urged the EU states to contribute more to medical aid for sick or injured civilians. There is a list of 12,000 civilians who need to be medically evacuated. The evacuations should not just be left to Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. According to the German government, it is already working on taking in at least some children.
After days in custody, Telegram founder Pawel Durow has been released on strict conditions and bail of €5 million – for the time being. Should the CEOs of other platforms now also expect to be prosecuted? After all, illegal content is also repeatedly found on their platforms.
The French public prosecutor’s office accuses Durow of being complicit in drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud and several offenses in connection with child abuse by failing to intervene at Telegram and failing to cooperate with the authorities. The charge of aiding and abetting illegal transactions with the messaging service alone could earn Durow up to ten years in prison and a fine of €500,000 if charges are brought against him.
“With these kinds of accusations, it could happen to any other CEO that a public prosecutor takes action against him”, says Matthias Spielkamp, Managing Director of Algorithm Watch. However, he considers it unlikely that this will happen. This is because he and other experts see clear differences in Telegram’s behavior compared to other platforms.
Others are not as ignorant as Pavel Durov, says Spielkamp. “The big platforms that we mostly talk about don’t act like this.” You could accuse them of not taking good enough action against attempted fraud, hate speech or sometimes illegal content. However, this is different to Telegram. Drugs are offered here and images of child abuse are exchanged. The organization Cemas presented a report according to which Telegram has become the “most important platform for conspiracy ideologies and right-wing extremism”. “Telegram is unfortunately known for not caring much about this.” For Spielkamp, it is therefore no surprise that France has now taken action.
“Telegram has made a name for itself over the years by not cooperating with law enforcement authorities“, argues internet law expert Matthias Kettemann. Unlike WhatsApp, for example, it is possible to encrypt communication on Telegram, but this is not the case for 80 percent of communications. “The operators could very well see what users write to other users. But they don’t care.” The fact that Telegram has become one of the biggest havens for extremist material or images of sexual exploitation of children – “the boss knows that, of course. But he simply did nothing about it for many years.”
The French authorities obviously wanted to send a signal. In the past ten years, there have been up to eight cases worldwide where platform managers have been detained at short notice, primarily to exert pressure, explains Kettemann. In India, for example, and also in Italy. “But it’s very, very rare. And I don’t think it will happen again because we now have a good new system with the European rules for platforms”, says Kettemann. “You no longer need to take the CEO into custody.” He considers Telegram to be an exceptional case in which this is justified.
Durow is a “content macho” who presents himself as a fighter for freedom. “In reality, however, he is a very problematic figure“, says Kettemann. Nor can Durow be compared to X owner Elon Musk, on whose platform content glorifying violence such as that on Telegram cannot be found. Telegram and its CEO Durow may have clever legal constructions to thank for having been left in peace by the judiciary for so long: servers in 20 different countries, only one mailbox at the company headquarters in Dubai.
It is remarkable that the French judiciary is now taking aggressive action. Unlike the German state, which is basically accusing Telegram of the same thing. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser was worth a message on X in 2022 for having come into contact with the Telegram management at all. There was also a video conference with Durow, recalls Matthias Spielkamp. However: “Nothing happened afterwards.”
It is also surprising that Thierry Breton, who is still the acting Commissioner for the Internal Market, has not railed against Telegram as much as he has against X, for example. Breton has no problem publicly taking on powerful entrepreneurs. He likes to argue with Elon Musk about X on X. This last happened in mid-August, when Breton warned Musk before his interview with Donald Trump about violations of European laws against hate speech and incitement to violence online.
The reason could be that Telegram is not yet under the supervision of the Commission under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This would only be the case if Telegram were designated as a Very Large Online Platform. However, Telegram denies that it exceeds the threshold of 45 million users in the EU. According to a spokesperson, the Commission is currently carrying out its own calculations to verify this. However, these have not yet been completed.
The DSA provides for many, sometimes lengthy and multi-stage procedures to deal with potential risks on platforms without having to arrest CEOs, explains Julian Jaursch from the think tank Interface. This allows the Commission to impose heavy fines in the end. Such fines have already proven to be very effective in the past.
As Telegram is not yet subject to Commission supervision, “action by the Commission is therefore not to be expected”. This in turn opens up scope for action by national authorities. “However, before the company management is held accountable, other measures should take effect“, says Jaursch, “measures that ideally help platform users more quickly and in the long term“. In the case of Telegram, this approach apparently did not work for several years, so the French judiciary has now chosen a different path.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their support for Ukraine on Thursday. This is essential to guarantee “the defense and security of the country and the continent”, they announced in a joint statement.
After Starmer visited Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday for the inauguration, he traveled on to Paris to meet Macron. The German and British heads of government announced on Wednesday that they would negotiate a new bilateral agreement at the beginning of 2025. The core is to be a defense agreement.
The United Kingdom and Germany are Ukraine’s biggest financial supporters, and France is at least a verbal supporter.
For Gesine Weber, a political scientist at the German Marshall Fund and King’s College London, there is a “window of opportunity” for closer cooperation between Germany, France and the UK. Even if a new government in France will be shaky and a change of government in Germany is likely next year, the UK has a prime minister in Keir Starmer who is “ideologically relatively close” to Macron and Scholz – and sees common challenges.
The security agreement that Germany and the UK want to conclude must “also be seen in the context of the E3”, says Weber. The European E3 group consisting of the UK, France and Germany was formed as part of the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.
The Lancaster House Treaty on security policy ensures stable relations between the UK and France, while the second side of the triangle between Germany and France is maintained by the Elysée Treaty and the Aachen Treaty. Starmer also strengthens the E3 through his visits. “The weakest side of this triangle so far is the German-British relationship.” According to Weber, a lot is currently happening between Germany and the UK in an informal setting. bub
Ursula von der Leyen is currently working intensively on the structure of her new Commission. The Commission President intends to present the results of her deliberations on the distribution of areas of responsibility to the group chairmen in the European Parliament on Sept. 11 or 12. The exact date has not yet been set, according to parliamentary circles. The hearings of the candidates in the committees could then begin on Sept. 23. Even before that, Mario Draghi will inform the group leaders about his eagerly awaited report on competitiveness on Sept. 5, as my colleagues report in this issue.
Von der Leyen is still waiting for the latecomers among the member states: Belgium, Bulgaria and Italy have not yet named any Commissioner candidates shortly before their deadline. The first two latecomers are excused due to the internal political impasse, but not Italy. It has actually been clear for some time who Rome is sending: European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto from the ruling Fratelli d’Italia party has been considered the candidate for the post of Italian EU Commissioner for weeks. Other names are no longer circulating, even in the often highly speculative Italian press.
And yet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took until the last minute to send the personnel matter to von der Leyen, fueling speculation about the reasons. One thing is clear: Meloni was on vacation until the beginning of this week. The head of government is currently in talks with her coalition partners, Matteo Salvini from the Lega and Antonio Tajani from Forza Italia.
However, it is also clear that the shame of being ignored and left out by the top dogs Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron in the decision to nominate von der Leyen still runs deep. So why should Meloni now go all out and complete her task before the official deadline? A little bit of defiance may well play a role in the delaying tactics.
I wish you a relaxing weekend!
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba set the tone alongside Josep Borrell: The gap between the announcement of military support and the effective delivery was a handicap for Ukraine. Given the excessively long period, it is difficult for the armed forces to plan and know what they can rely on on the battlefield. At the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Kuleba specifically mentioned the additional air defense systems promised by the European partners months ago. There are also to be further delays in the delivery of ammunition.
At the first ministerial meeting after the summer break, the EU is still caught up in the discrepancy between ambition and reality. So far, only Germany has delivered and has already transferred the third Patriot system. Kuleba did not mention any names, but is likely to have his sights set on the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, which have promised systems or parts thereof. Ukraine is paying for these delays with human lives and destroyed infrastructure. The systems are ready and must now be delivered quickly.
The EU foreign policy chief backed Kuleba’s call and emphasized that Russia had fired more than 14,000 drones and 10,000 missiles at Ukraine since February 2022. It is apparently easy to promise and somewhat more difficult to deliver. Ukraine had also shown “strategic courage” with the Kursk offensive and demonstrated that Russia could be defeated. He would urge the member states to keep their promises.
Borrell also took up the Ukrainian Foreign Minister’s demand to lift the restrictions on the use of Western weapons. Ukraine must be able to use the weapons to their full extent within the framework of international law. Otherwise, the weapons would be useless. However, apart from the USA, only Great Britain and France have so far provided Ukraine with weapons with a corresponding range.
According to Kuleba, the aim is for Ukraine to be able to target legitimate military targets such as the airfields from which his country is attacked on a daily basis. “We are counting on getting the authorization and missiles that can reach these targets.” The Ukrainian may also have been thinking of the German Taurus missiles.
When asked about the concern in some member states that Germany, the most important pillar of support, could drop out due to austerity measures, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said that he would talk to the German Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the meeting. However, there are already assurances from Berlin that the promises for the current year will not be called into question. Europe’s security was at stake and this could not be made dependent on budgetary constraints.
Annalena Baerbock confirmed in Brussels that Germany intends to deliver four more IRIS-T air defense systems and additional Gepard anti-aircraft gun tanks by the end of the year. Putin is planning an even more massive “cold war” against Ukraine. The EU’s response must be a new protective shield.
The second focus of the informal meeting was the Middle East conflict. Borrell presented his proposal to put Israel’s police minister and finance minister on the sanctions list. The two far-right members of the government are accused of human rights violations and incitement to hatred. Preparations for sanctions have been initiated, said Borrell. But in the end, the ministers would have to unanimously agree to this step.
Minister Annalena Baerbock has not ruled out the possibility of Germany agreeing to sanctions against the two Israeli government ministers. However, Italy has signaled its rejection, and countries such as Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic are likely to oppose the move.
In a statement, the foreign ministers also called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so that all young people can be vaccinated against the polio virus. “The Gaza Strip has been polio-free for the past 25 years. It is alarming that the polio virus has been discovered.” An epidemic and further international spread must be avoided.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in Brussels that the German government was working at full speed with local partners to bring about a humanitarian ceasefire and was doing everything it could to ensure that polio vaccinations could now also be administered. “Polio vaccinations are of no use at all if newborns cannot also be vaccinated”, she said.
Sigrid Kaag, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza, briefed the foreign ministers on the dramatic situation. The former Dutch Finance Minister also urged the EU states to contribute more to medical aid for sick or injured civilians. There is a list of 12,000 civilians who need to be medically evacuated. The evacuations should not just be left to Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. According to the German government, it is already working on taking in at least some children.
After days in custody, Telegram founder Pawel Durow has been released on strict conditions and bail of €5 million – for the time being. Should the CEOs of other platforms now also expect to be prosecuted? After all, illegal content is also repeatedly found on their platforms.
The French public prosecutor’s office accuses Durow of being complicit in drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud and several offenses in connection with child abuse by failing to intervene at Telegram and failing to cooperate with the authorities. The charge of aiding and abetting illegal transactions with the messaging service alone could earn Durow up to ten years in prison and a fine of €500,000 if charges are brought against him.
“With these kinds of accusations, it could happen to any other CEO that a public prosecutor takes action against him”, says Matthias Spielkamp, Managing Director of Algorithm Watch. However, he considers it unlikely that this will happen. This is because he and other experts see clear differences in Telegram’s behavior compared to other platforms.
Others are not as ignorant as Pavel Durov, says Spielkamp. “The big platforms that we mostly talk about don’t act like this.” You could accuse them of not taking good enough action against attempted fraud, hate speech or sometimes illegal content. However, this is different to Telegram. Drugs are offered here and images of child abuse are exchanged. The organization Cemas presented a report according to which Telegram has become the “most important platform for conspiracy ideologies and right-wing extremism”. “Telegram is unfortunately known for not caring much about this.” For Spielkamp, it is therefore no surprise that France has now taken action.
“Telegram has made a name for itself over the years by not cooperating with law enforcement authorities“, argues internet law expert Matthias Kettemann. Unlike WhatsApp, for example, it is possible to encrypt communication on Telegram, but this is not the case for 80 percent of communications. “The operators could very well see what users write to other users. But they don’t care.” The fact that Telegram has become one of the biggest havens for extremist material or images of sexual exploitation of children – “the boss knows that, of course. But he simply did nothing about it for many years.”
The French authorities obviously wanted to send a signal. In the past ten years, there have been up to eight cases worldwide where platform managers have been detained at short notice, primarily to exert pressure, explains Kettemann. In India, for example, and also in Italy. “But it’s very, very rare. And I don’t think it will happen again because we now have a good new system with the European rules for platforms”, says Kettemann. “You no longer need to take the CEO into custody.” He considers Telegram to be an exceptional case in which this is justified.
Durow is a “content macho” who presents himself as a fighter for freedom. “In reality, however, he is a very problematic figure“, says Kettemann. Nor can Durow be compared to X owner Elon Musk, on whose platform content glorifying violence such as that on Telegram cannot be found. Telegram and its CEO Durow may have clever legal constructions to thank for having been left in peace by the judiciary for so long: servers in 20 different countries, only one mailbox at the company headquarters in Dubai.
It is remarkable that the French judiciary is now taking aggressive action. Unlike the German state, which is basically accusing Telegram of the same thing. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser was worth a message on X in 2022 for having come into contact with the Telegram management at all. There was also a video conference with Durow, recalls Matthias Spielkamp. However: “Nothing happened afterwards.”
It is also surprising that Thierry Breton, who is still the acting Commissioner for the Internal Market, has not railed against Telegram as much as he has against X, for example. Breton has no problem publicly taking on powerful entrepreneurs. He likes to argue with Elon Musk about X on X. This last happened in mid-August, when Breton warned Musk before his interview with Donald Trump about violations of European laws against hate speech and incitement to violence online.
The reason could be that Telegram is not yet under the supervision of the Commission under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This would only be the case if Telegram were designated as a Very Large Online Platform. However, Telegram denies that it exceeds the threshold of 45 million users in the EU. According to a spokesperson, the Commission is currently carrying out its own calculations to verify this. However, these have not yet been completed.
The DSA provides for many, sometimes lengthy and multi-stage procedures to deal with potential risks on platforms without having to arrest CEOs, explains Julian Jaursch from the think tank Interface. This allows the Commission to impose heavy fines in the end. Such fines have already proven to be very effective in the past.
As Telegram is not yet subject to Commission supervision, “action by the Commission is therefore not to be expected”. This in turn opens up scope for action by national authorities. “However, before the company management is held accountable, other measures should take effect“, says Jaursch, “measures that ideally help platform users more quickly and in the long term“. In the case of Telegram, this approach apparently did not work for several years, so the French judiciary has now chosen a different path.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their support for Ukraine on Thursday. This is essential to guarantee “the defense and security of the country and the continent”, they announced in a joint statement.
After Starmer visited Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday for the inauguration, he traveled on to Paris to meet Macron. The German and British heads of government announced on Wednesday that they would negotiate a new bilateral agreement at the beginning of 2025. The core is to be a defense agreement.
The United Kingdom and Germany are Ukraine’s biggest financial supporters, and France is at least a verbal supporter.
For Gesine Weber, a political scientist at the German Marshall Fund and King’s College London, there is a “window of opportunity” for closer cooperation between Germany, France and the UK. Even if a new government in France will be shaky and a change of government in Germany is likely next year, the UK has a prime minister in Keir Starmer who is “ideologically relatively close” to Macron and Scholz – and sees common challenges.
The security agreement that Germany and the UK want to conclude must “also be seen in the context of the E3”, says Weber. The European E3 group consisting of the UK, France and Germany was formed as part of the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.
The Lancaster House Treaty on security policy ensures stable relations between the UK and France, while the second side of the triangle between Germany and France is maintained by the Elysée Treaty and the Aachen Treaty. Starmer also strengthens the E3 through his visits. “The weakest side of this triangle so far is the German-British relationship.” According to Weber, a lot is currently happening between Germany and the UK in an informal setting. bub