Year in Review – Crises, Computers and Careers • Table.Briefings

Dear reader,

2023 has been a year of relentless challenges. Across Europe, governments have grappled with an unending cascade of crises and conflicts, with the Covid pandemic stretching them to the brink in numerous instances. Increasingly, a segment of the populace is questioning the efficacy of their democratically elected leaders, with some turning their gaze toward more authoritarian figures and parties. As we approach the European elections in June, it’s imperative for those who support a united Europe to effectively persuade the electorate to resist the alluring yet perilous calls from the extreme right and left. Failure to do so will undoubtedly constrict our collective capacity to navigate these tumultuous times.

In this year’s final issue of Europe.Table, we delve into the key events and responses that have shaped the closing year. It’s been a period dominated by the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the reverberations of an acute energy crisis, and mounting concerns over the vitality of European industry. Concurrently, innovations like ChatGPT have demystified artificial intelligence, showcasing its potential to a broader audience beyond just tech enthusiasts.

As the festive season unfolds, we’ll continue to bring you the latest developments via 100Headlines, offering a comprehensive news digest for the Table.Media community. Starting Jan. 2, Europe.Table will resume its regular delivery to your inbox, featuring a series of insightful articles anticipating and analyzing the trends likely to influence the year ahead.

As we pause for the holiday break, I extend my warmest wishes for a peaceful and rejuvenating season. May this time offer you a moment of respite and reflection as we gear up for the opportunities and challenges of the new year. Happy Holidays!

Your
Till Hoppe

2023: Crises, Computers and Careers

Geopolitics: World on Fire

The war in Ukraine has been raging for almost two years and European governments seem to be feeling increasingly uneasy: The Ukrainian summer offensive has not brought the hoped-for success, Russia’s war machine is running at full speed and even an estimated 300,000 soldiers killed or wounded are being endured by Russian society largely without a murmur.

Europe’s arms industry, on the other hand, remains in normal mode; the EU will probably not deliver a million artillery shells to Ukraine as promised. Now the USA, Kyiv’s most important supporter, could also drop out if the Republicans in Congress continue to block the budget funds. Unlike at the beginning of the Gaza war, however, the EU heads of state and government have so far largely kept their ranks closed, with the exception of the Hungarian troublemaker Viktor Orbán. In mid-December, they managed to agree to start accession negotiations with Ukraine. The financial aid is to be decided at a special summit on Feb. 1.

Relations with Beijing remain tense. The first face-to-face EU-China summit since the end of the coronavirus pandemic took place at the beginning of December. Beijing tried to appease criticism of trade imbalances with small concessions. However, there is great concern that head of state Xi Jinping will try to annex Taiwan militarily if necessary. tho

Energy: Crises Everywhere

New beginnings and crisis management – the meeting of the energy ministers shortly before Christmas reflected the mood in 2023. Several bilateral agreements were intended to promote renewables, grid expansion, and the phasing out of fossil fuels. However, the ministers also extended the emergency regulations from the energy crisis, which were actually due to expire at the end of the year. Fears of price hikes are still rampant, but the ongoing emergency regime also fits in with the new dirigisme in economic and energy policy.

The biggest achievement in Germany is the acceleration of planning for renewable energies – first in the emergency ordinance and then permanently in RED III. However, conservationists are not yet sure whether the elimination of a single approval step will actually lead to the hoped-for acceleration. “The reforms don’t bring much legal clarity, and environmental impact assessments have never been a problem”, says Nabu lawyer Raphael Weyland. “Some operators tell us they will still carry out an EIA to be on the safe side.”

Alongside the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the electricity market reform was the most contentious issue. While the former was negotiated to a standstill in terms of climate policy, the dispute over cheap French industrial electricity has not really been resolved. The German government was only able to negotiate a political-tactical paragraph into the Council position that puts the Directorate-General for Competition under observation, so to speak, to ensure that it actually fulfills its role. But in purely legal terms, this is nothing more than the status quo.

Perhaps the even bigger win for France: Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher used the negotiations to forge a nuclear alliance with ten other member states. France will be able to take advantage of their blocking minority in many other negotiations in the future – as is already becoming apparent with the energy targets for 2040. ber

IRA: Fear of an Exodus

It was three letters that triggered a kind of panic in Brussels a year ago: IRA. At the height of the energy crisis in Europe, the US Inflation Reduction Act stoked fears of an industrial exodus. It didn’t come to that last year, but the high tax credits are still attracting a number of cleantech investors to America.

Investments in clean technologies have risen sharply; according to the Rhodium Group, $64 billion were invested in the third quarter alone. To date, there are no reliable figures on how many companies have foregone investments in Europe in return, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence. Given the long investment cycles, the effects can only be assessed in the medium term, according to the EU Commission in the fall, which remains “highly vigilant”.

In response to the IRA, the authority presented the Green Deal Industrial Plan, with the Net-Zero Industry Act at its core. The NZIA is intended to shorten the approval process for new wind power projects, for example, but unlike the IRA, it is not backed by billions in public funding. The law will therefore “not be enough to take a big step forward”, says Jannik Jansen, Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre at the Hertie School. tho

Green Deal: Consensus is Crumbling

2023 was the year in which the first cracks appeared in the core project of this legislature, which later even widened into rifts. While the major political groups in the EU Parliament had previously agreed in principle on the Green Deal legislation, the consensus broke down several times this year. Mostly at the center of the action: Manfred Weber.

In May, the EPP leader called for a legislative moratorium to prevent additional burdens for farmers and the food industry. The Commission had previously presented the third legislative package – consisting of stricter rules for pesticide reduction and nature restoration, among other things. According to Weber and his group, both laws jeopardize the competitiveness of the sector and should be withdrawn. The EPP finally buried the pesticide regulation in plenary. On the other hand, it had to return to the negotiating table in the trilogue on the renaturation law.

The Greens, Social Democrats and some Liberals see the EPP position as a shift to the right by the Parliament and a fundamental rejection of environmental and climate protection. They fear that it could become even more difficult to pursue progressive climate policy after the upcoming European elections in June 2024 if the Parliament were to move noticeably to the right. luk

Combustion Engines: Fuel is Dead, Long Live Fuel

The discussions on phasing out combustion engines were similarly confrontational and ideological – albeit with different protagonists. On the one side was Volker Wissing, FDP Minister of Transport and an avowed e-fuels fan. On the other side was Frans Timmermans, back then still the sole ruler of European climate policy and an energetic opponent of e-fuels in cars.

Wissing demanded a Commission proposal on how combustion vehicles could still be registered after 2035 if they could be fueled exclusively with e-fuels and thus be CO2-neutral. And because this proposal was not yet available at the time of the Council vote on the revision of the car fleet limits, Wissing vetoed it at the last minute.

Timmermans and Wissing argued for weeks about who would present a proposal and when. They finally reached an agreement and the Commission drew up a delegated act. However, this now threatens to fail due to a lack of agreement among the member states – and thus also a solution for e-fuel cars. luk

Sustainability: Reporting Obligations

The question of whether and how companies should report on their sustainability efforts was also a contentious issue. Several legislative proposals provide for extensive reporting obligations: the green taxonomy, the Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The EU Due Diligence Act, which was agreed by the EU institutions in December, also provides for reporting obligations – but only for companies that do not already report in accordance with the CSRD.

Industry took to the barricades, fearing that the additional bureaucratic burden would jeopardize Europe’s competitiveness as a business location. The administration also lacks the capacity to implement and monitor the new legislation. These concerns have long since reached the political arena: In May, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “regulatory pause” from the EU so as not to overburden industry. The German government also promised measures to reduce bureaucracy and announced that it would work with France to achieve this at EU level.

On the other hand, supporters of the proposed legislation are calling for effective measures to counter the negative effects of economic activities. Companies should take responsibility for their business activities and their global supply chains, i.e. comply with environmental and human rights standards. This would be best achieved if companies were obliged to disclose this information. leo

AI Act: Mostly Political

Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the economy. With the AI Act, Europe has set out to create a basis for this powerful technology that is in line with European values. After three days of marathon negotiations, the Council, Parliament and Commission concluded a political deal on Dec. 8.

The most important points: It remains an application-oriented regulation with a risk-based approach, according to which some practices such as social scoring and predictive policing are prohibited. Real-time biometric recognition in public spaces is also prohibited, but there are exceptions for law enforcement under strict conditions. Otherwise, only high-risk systems are regulated. General purpose AI (GPAI) is subject to minimum rules. High requirements only apply to GPAI models that pose systemic risks.

Despite the political agreement, there is still a long way to go before the member states and parliament have finally adopted the AI Act. The trilogue parties are still negotiating the details at a technical level. According to current plans, they want to complete this work by the beginning of February. According to sources close to the negotiations, the BMWK and BMDV are of different opinions as to whether they want to agree to the trilogue result or not. vis

Data Act: European Data Market

Another digital law, the Data Act, was hardly less controversial in the business world than the AI Act. Its aim: to create harmonized regulations for fair access to and use of data from networked devices. It is therefore about nothing less than establishing a single European market for data. This also forms an important basis for the development of artificial intelligence.

Parliament and Council adopted the Data Act in November. Following publication in the Official Journal of the EU, there will be a transitional period of 20 months. The regulation will then apply throughout Europe. It establishes a right of ownership in the digital space, creates more competition and enables new business models. While users of devices and machines and one group of companies are looking forward to finally gaining access to the data generated by their products, another group fears for the protection of their trade secrets. These were also the most controversial issues from a German perspective.

Business associations criticize the fact that many provisions of the law are still unclear or contradictory. This is particularly true where it is not entirely clear whether or not personal data is involved. Companies would also need a lead time to prepare sufficiently. In fact, many small and medium-sized companies in particular are probably not yet aware that they will not only be able to gain access to data in the future but will also have to share it on request as the guardians of large data treasures. vis

Comeback of the Year: Donald Tusk

In many European countries, nationalist and radical right-wing parties are pushing their way to power; in Poland, the national-conservative PiS has just been voted out of office after eight years in power. The victory of the democratic opposition has a face: Donald Tusk. The 66-year-old former President of the European Council managed to pull off the coup despite the PiS’s uninhibited exploitation of state television and other institutions for its own purposes.

Tusk succeeded in mobilizing the apolitical groups of the population. He presented himself as a fighter for democracy, civil liberties and the rule of law – and as an opponent of the PiS’s absolute ban on abortion. This went down well with young and female voters in larger cities.

The old and new prime minister now wants to learn from the mistakes of his first term in office: his liberal economic course ensured growth, but also caused social tensions. After his inauguration, he promised to engage in an open dialog with the population and show more empathy. ryb

Career Break of the Year: Margrethe Vestager

Margrethe Vestager has recently returned to her old post as Competition Commissioner – albeit involuntarily. The Dane had applied to become President of the European Investment Bank, but lost out to Spain’s Economy Minister Nadia Calviño. After Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron also sided with Calviño at the last minute, although the French President belongs to the same liberal political camp as Vestager.

It was a fitting end to a difficult year for the 55-year-old. The European courts overturned several of her decisions, most recently on Amazon’s tax avoidance, which had brought her international prominence as a competition watchdog. In the Commission, she was involved in many power struggles with Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. Breton’s interventionist approach fits in better with the zeitgeist than Vestager’s market economy principles.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also left little room for her Vice-Presidents to make their mark. Frans Timmermans decided to leap into Dutch politics in the summer, albeit with moderate success in the parliamentary elections. Vestager must now look for new tasks: Her party in Denmark is currently not part of the government, so the liberal politician has little prospect of a further term in office as Commissioner. tho

New supercomputer inaugurated in Barcelona

Europe has gained another supercomputer: On Thursday, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center inaugurated the Mare Nostrum 5 supercomputer. The machine is currently one of the ten most powerful high-performance computers in the world. From March 2024, the supercomputer will be accessible to users from science and industry.

Mare Nostrum 5 can perform 314 quadrillion computing operations per second (314 petaflops). It is also the most environmentally friendly supercomputer in Europe because it is extremely energy efficient and runs on sustainable energy, as the Commission announced. It uses its waste heat to heat the building in which it is located.

Mare Nostrum 5 is also available to AI start-ups

The supercomputer is designed to solve complex scientific problems. In addition, Mare Nostrum 5 will support other strategic actions such as the EU’s Destination Earth initiative to develop a high-precision digital model of the entire Earth and the European Virtual Human Twin initiative, which the Commission launched at the same time.

Developers of artificial intelligence will also be able to use the machine. The high-performance computer will meet the requirements of emerging AI platforms and can increase the performance of large European AI language models, the Commission announced. As announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mare Nostrum 5 will also be available to European AI start-ups so that they can use it to train their models.

Total costs of €202 million

Mare Nostrum 5 is the largest investment Europe has ever made in scientific infrastructure in Spain. The total costs amount to €202 million, of which €151.4 million were for the purchase of the machine.

It is funded equally by the European Supercomputing Initiative European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) via the EU Connecting Europe Facility and the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, as well as by the participating countries Spain, Turkey and Portugal.

The two exascale supercomputers Jupiter at Jülich Center and Jules Verne at the supercomputing center in Bruyères-le-Châtel, which will be put into operation in Germany and France in 2024, will be even more powerful.

Italian parliament rejects ESM reform

The Italian Chamber of Deputies rejected the reform of the euro bailout fund ESM, which has been planned by the euro states for years, by a large majority on Thursday. In the parliament in Rome, 184 MPs voted against it, most of them from the right-wing government camp.

The changes, which the finance ministers of the euro states had already agreed on three years ago, were supported by 72 parliamentarians. 44 abstained from voting. A coalition of three right-wing parties has been in government in Italy since October last year under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

All other euro states have agreed

The euro states had already agreed on the reform of the ESM Treaty in 2020. However, for the changes to come into force, the treaty must be ratified by the national parliaments of all 19 members. This has long since happened in all other countries. However, the no vote from Italy has now blocked the project.

On the one hand, the aim of the reform is to facilitate precautionary credit lines for countries in economic and financial crises. At the same time, there is to be reinsurance for bank resolution. This joint “backstop” is intended to strengthen Europe’s banking system and protect it from financial crises.

The ESM is a fund from which countries with the euro as their currency can obtain loans in the event of a crisis in order to ensure their solvency. It was launched in 2012. dpa

Kyiv aims to recruit Ukrainians from abroad

Not only does the Ukrainian army lack artillery and drones, but there are also personnel problems: The debate about mobilizing up to 500,000 additional soldiers, as well as considerations to call up Ukrainian men living abroad for frontline deployment, show the pressure the army leadership is under. Discussions about insufficient rotations have been going on in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and extensive reforms for recruiting personnel are already in progress.

In Germany, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees counted exactly 197,072 Ukrainian men aged between 25 and 60 at the end of November, and hundreds of thousands more across the EU. The men can be conscripted within this legally defined age range. This means that they are currently between the ages of 27 and 60. According to a law passed by parliament in March 2023, the lower age limit is to be lowered to 25 in order to expand the reserve. However, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has not yet signed the law.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is now planning to “invite” Ukrainians living abroad to deploy, as Minister Rustem Umjerow put it in an interview with the German newspaper “Bild”. Even consequences for those who do not accept the “invitation” are being considered. It is unclear whether these plans will be supported by Zelenskiy, as he had been rather cautious about the military’s call for a new, extensive mobilization.

Should Kyiv really want to forcefully persuade Ukrainian men from the EU to return and do military service, this will foreseeably lead to diplomatic problems. Only a month ago, Germany extended the special regulation for Ukrainian refugees until March 2025. Of the 1.26 million Ukrainian refugees registered by the beginning of December, 1.03 million have protection status.

Since the start of the war, human rights groups such as Connection and Amnesty International have also been campaigning for asylum protection for men from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who do not want to take part in the war. So far, however, refusal to perform military service has only been a reason for granting asylum in exceptional cases. vf

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE

Till
Hoppe

Sarah
Schaefer

Lukas
Knigge

Corinna
Visser

Markus
Grabitz

Alina
Leimbach

Eric
Bonse

Manuel
Berkel

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

János
Allenbach-Ammann

Dear reader,

2023 has been a year of relentless challenges. Across Europe, governments have grappled with an unending cascade of crises and conflicts, with the Covid pandemic stretching them to the brink in numerous instances. Increasingly, a segment of the populace is questioning the efficacy of their democratically elected leaders, with some turning their gaze toward more authoritarian figures and parties. As we approach the European elections in June, it’s imperative for those who support a united Europe to effectively persuade the electorate to resist the alluring yet perilous calls from the extreme right and left. Failure to do so will undoubtedly constrict our collective capacity to navigate these tumultuous times.

In this year’s final issue of Europe.Table, we delve into the key events and responses that have shaped the closing year. It’s been a period dominated by the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the reverberations of an acute energy crisis, and mounting concerns over the vitality of European industry. Concurrently, innovations like ChatGPT have demystified artificial intelligence, showcasing its potential to a broader audience beyond just tech enthusiasts.

As the festive season unfolds, we’ll continue to bring you the latest developments via 100Headlines, offering a comprehensive news digest for the Table.Media community. Starting Jan. 2, Europe.Table will resume its regular delivery to your inbox, featuring a series of insightful articles anticipating and analyzing the trends likely to influence the year ahead.

As we pause for the holiday break, I extend my warmest wishes for a peaceful and rejuvenating season. May this time offer you a moment of respite and reflection as we gear up for the opportunities and challenges of the new year. Happy Holidays!

Your
Till Hoppe

2023: Crises, Computers and Careers

Geopolitics: World on Fire

The war in Ukraine has been raging for almost two years and European governments seem to be feeling increasingly uneasy: The Ukrainian summer offensive has not brought the hoped-for success, Russia’s war machine is running at full speed and even an estimated 300,000 soldiers killed or wounded are being endured by Russian society largely without a murmur.

Europe’s arms industry, on the other hand, remains in normal mode; the EU will probably not deliver a million artillery shells to Ukraine as promised. Now the USA, Kyiv’s most important supporter, could also drop out if the Republicans in Congress continue to block the budget funds. Unlike at the beginning of the Gaza war, however, the EU heads of state and government have so far largely kept their ranks closed, with the exception of the Hungarian troublemaker Viktor Orbán. In mid-December, they managed to agree to start accession negotiations with Ukraine. The financial aid is to be decided at a special summit on Feb. 1.

Relations with Beijing remain tense. The first face-to-face EU-China summit since the end of the coronavirus pandemic took place at the beginning of December. Beijing tried to appease criticism of trade imbalances with small concessions. However, there is great concern that head of state Xi Jinping will try to annex Taiwan militarily if necessary. tho

Energy: Crises Everywhere

New beginnings and crisis management – the meeting of the energy ministers shortly before Christmas reflected the mood in 2023. Several bilateral agreements were intended to promote renewables, grid expansion, and the phasing out of fossil fuels. However, the ministers also extended the emergency regulations from the energy crisis, which were actually due to expire at the end of the year. Fears of price hikes are still rampant, but the ongoing emergency regime also fits in with the new dirigisme in economic and energy policy.

The biggest achievement in Germany is the acceleration of planning for renewable energies – first in the emergency ordinance and then permanently in RED III. However, conservationists are not yet sure whether the elimination of a single approval step will actually lead to the hoped-for acceleration. “The reforms don’t bring much legal clarity, and environmental impact assessments have never been a problem”, says Nabu lawyer Raphael Weyland. “Some operators tell us they will still carry out an EIA to be on the safe side.”

Alongside the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the electricity market reform was the most contentious issue. While the former was negotiated to a standstill in terms of climate policy, the dispute over cheap French industrial electricity has not really been resolved. The German government was only able to negotiate a political-tactical paragraph into the Council position that puts the Directorate-General for Competition under observation, so to speak, to ensure that it actually fulfills its role. But in purely legal terms, this is nothing more than the status quo.

Perhaps the even bigger win for France: Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher used the negotiations to forge a nuclear alliance with ten other member states. France will be able to take advantage of their blocking minority in many other negotiations in the future – as is already becoming apparent with the energy targets for 2040. ber

IRA: Fear of an Exodus

It was three letters that triggered a kind of panic in Brussels a year ago: IRA. At the height of the energy crisis in Europe, the US Inflation Reduction Act stoked fears of an industrial exodus. It didn’t come to that last year, but the high tax credits are still attracting a number of cleantech investors to America.

Investments in clean technologies have risen sharply; according to the Rhodium Group, $64 billion were invested in the third quarter alone. To date, there are no reliable figures on how many companies have foregone investments in Europe in return, but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence. Given the long investment cycles, the effects can only be assessed in the medium term, according to the EU Commission in the fall, which remains “highly vigilant”.

In response to the IRA, the authority presented the Green Deal Industrial Plan, with the Net-Zero Industry Act at its core. The NZIA is intended to shorten the approval process for new wind power projects, for example, but unlike the IRA, it is not backed by billions in public funding. The law will therefore “not be enough to take a big step forward”, says Jannik Jansen, Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre at the Hertie School. tho

Green Deal: Consensus is Crumbling

2023 was the year in which the first cracks appeared in the core project of this legislature, which later even widened into rifts. While the major political groups in the EU Parliament had previously agreed in principle on the Green Deal legislation, the consensus broke down several times this year. Mostly at the center of the action: Manfred Weber.

In May, the EPP leader called for a legislative moratorium to prevent additional burdens for farmers and the food industry. The Commission had previously presented the third legislative package – consisting of stricter rules for pesticide reduction and nature restoration, among other things. According to Weber and his group, both laws jeopardize the competitiveness of the sector and should be withdrawn. The EPP finally buried the pesticide regulation in plenary. On the other hand, it had to return to the negotiating table in the trilogue on the renaturation law.

The Greens, Social Democrats and some Liberals see the EPP position as a shift to the right by the Parliament and a fundamental rejection of environmental and climate protection. They fear that it could become even more difficult to pursue progressive climate policy after the upcoming European elections in June 2024 if the Parliament were to move noticeably to the right. luk

Combustion Engines: Fuel is Dead, Long Live Fuel

The discussions on phasing out combustion engines were similarly confrontational and ideological – albeit with different protagonists. On the one side was Volker Wissing, FDP Minister of Transport and an avowed e-fuels fan. On the other side was Frans Timmermans, back then still the sole ruler of European climate policy and an energetic opponent of e-fuels in cars.

Wissing demanded a Commission proposal on how combustion vehicles could still be registered after 2035 if they could be fueled exclusively with e-fuels and thus be CO2-neutral. And because this proposal was not yet available at the time of the Council vote on the revision of the car fleet limits, Wissing vetoed it at the last minute.

Timmermans and Wissing argued for weeks about who would present a proposal and when. They finally reached an agreement and the Commission drew up a delegated act. However, this now threatens to fail due to a lack of agreement among the member states – and thus also a solution for e-fuel cars. luk

Sustainability: Reporting Obligations

The question of whether and how companies should report on their sustainability efforts was also a contentious issue. Several legislative proposals provide for extensive reporting obligations: the green taxonomy, the Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). The EU Due Diligence Act, which was agreed by the EU institutions in December, also provides for reporting obligations – but only for companies that do not already report in accordance with the CSRD.

Industry took to the barricades, fearing that the additional bureaucratic burden would jeopardize Europe’s competitiveness as a business location. The administration also lacks the capacity to implement and monitor the new legislation. These concerns have long since reached the political arena: In May, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “regulatory pause” from the EU so as not to overburden industry. The German government also promised measures to reduce bureaucracy and announced that it would work with France to achieve this at EU level.

On the other hand, supporters of the proposed legislation are calling for effective measures to counter the negative effects of economic activities. Companies should take responsibility for their business activities and their global supply chains, i.e. comply with environmental and human rights standards. This would be best achieved if companies were obliged to disclose this information. leo

AI Act: Mostly Political

Artificial intelligence will fundamentally change the economy. With the AI Act, Europe has set out to create a basis for this powerful technology that is in line with European values. After three days of marathon negotiations, the Council, Parliament and Commission concluded a political deal on Dec. 8.

The most important points: It remains an application-oriented regulation with a risk-based approach, according to which some practices such as social scoring and predictive policing are prohibited. Real-time biometric recognition in public spaces is also prohibited, but there are exceptions for law enforcement under strict conditions. Otherwise, only high-risk systems are regulated. General purpose AI (GPAI) is subject to minimum rules. High requirements only apply to GPAI models that pose systemic risks.

Despite the political agreement, there is still a long way to go before the member states and parliament have finally adopted the AI Act. The trilogue parties are still negotiating the details at a technical level. According to current plans, they want to complete this work by the beginning of February. According to sources close to the negotiations, the BMWK and BMDV are of different opinions as to whether they want to agree to the trilogue result or not. vis

Data Act: European Data Market

Another digital law, the Data Act, was hardly less controversial in the business world than the AI Act. Its aim: to create harmonized regulations for fair access to and use of data from networked devices. It is therefore about nothing less than establishing a single European market for data. This also forms an important basis for the development of artificial intelligence.

Parliament and Council adopted the Data Act in November. Following publication in the Official Journal of the EU, there will be a transitional period of 20 months. The regulation will then apply throughout Europe. It establishes a right of ownership in the digital space, creates more competition and enables new business models. While users of devices and machines and one group of companies are looking forward to finally gaining access to the data generated by their products, another group fears for the protection of their trade secrets. These were also the most controversial issues from a German perspective.

Business associations criticize the fact that many provisions of the law are still unclear or contradictory. This is particularly true where it is not entirely clear whether or not personal data is involved. Companies would also need a lead time to prepare sufficiently. In fact, many small and medium-sized companies in particular are probably not yet aware that they will not only be able to gain access to data in the future but will also have to share it on request as the guardians of large data treasures. vis

Comeback of the Year: Donald Tusk

In many European countries, nationalist and radical right-wing parties are pushing their way to power; in Poland, the national-conservative PiS has just been voted out of office after eight years in power. The victory of the democratic opposition has a face: Donald Tusk. The 66-year-old former President of the European Council managed to pull off the coup despite the PiS’s uninhibited exploitation of state television and other institutions for its own purposes.

Tusk succeeded in mobilizing the apolitical groups of the population. He presented himself as a fighter for democracy, civil liberties and the rule of law – and as an opponent of the PiS’s absolute ban on abortion. This went down well with young and female voters in larger cities.

The old and new prime minister now wants to learn from the mistakes of his first term in office: his liberal economic course ensured growth, but also caused social tensions. After his inauguration, he promised to engage in an open dialog with the population and show more empathy. ryb

Career Break of the Year: Margrethe Vestager

Margrethe Vestager has recently returned to her old post as Competition Commissioner – albeit involuntarily. The Dane had applied to become President of the European Investment Bank, but lost out to Spain’s Economy Minister Nadia Calviño. After Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron also sided with Calviño at the last minute, although the French President belongs to the same liberal political camp as Vestager.

It was a fitting end to a difficult year for the 55-year-old. The European courts overturned several of her decisions, most recently on Amazon’s tax avoidance, which had brought her international prominence as a competition watchdog. In the Commission, she was involved in many power struggles with Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. Breton’s interventionist approach fits in better with the zeitgeist than Vestager’s market economy principles.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also left little room for her Vice-Presidents to make their mark. Frans Timmermans decided to leap into Dutch politics in the summer, albeit with moderate success in the parliamentary elections. Vestager must now look for new tasks: Her party in Denmark is currently not part of the government, so the liberal politician has little prospect of a further term in office as Commissioner. tho

New supercomputer inaugurated in Barcelona

Europe has gained another supercomputer: On Thursday, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center inaugurated the Mare Nostrum 5 supercomputer. The machine is currently one of the ten most powerful high-performance computers in the world. From March 2024, the supercomputer will be accessible to users from science and industry.

Mare Nostrum 5 can perform 314 quadrillion computing operations per second (314 petaflops). It is also the most environmentally friendly supercomputer in Europe because it is extremely energy efficient and runs on sustainable energy, as the Commission announced. It uses its waste heat to heat the building in which it is located.

Mare Nostrum 5 is also available to AI start-ups

The supercomputer is designed to solve complex scientific problems. In addition, Mare Nostrum 5 will support other strategic actions such as the EU’s Destination Earth initiative to develop a high-precision digital model of the entire Earth and the European Virtual Human Twin initiative, which the Commission launched at the same time.

Developers of artificial intelligence will also be able to use the machine. The high-performance computer will meet the requirements of emerging AI platforms and can increase the performance of large European AI language models, the Commission announced. As announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Mare Nostrum 5 will also be available to European AI start-ups so that they can use it to train their models.

Total costs of €202 million

Mare Nostrum 5 is the largest investment Europe has ever made in scientific infrastructure in Spain. The total costs amount to €202 million, of which €151.4 million were for the purchase of the machine.

It is funded equally by the European Supercomputing Initiative European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) via the EU Connecting Europe Facility and the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, as well as by the participating countries Spain, Turkey and Portugal.

The two exascale supercomputers Jupiter at Jülich Center and Jules Verne at the supercomputing center in Bruyères-le-Châtel, which will be put into operation in Germany and France in 2024, will be even more powerful.

Italian parliament rejects ESM reform

The Italian Chamber of Deputies rejected the reform of the euro bailout fund ESM, which has been planned by the euro states for years, by a large majority on Thursday. In the parliament in Rome, 184 MPs voted against it, most of them from the right-wing government camp.

The changes, which the finance ministers of the euro states had already agreed on three years ago, were supported by 72 parliamentarians. 44 abstained from voting. A coalition of three right-wing parties has been in government in Italy since October last year under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

All other euro states have agreed

The euro states had already agreed on the reform of the ESM Treaty in 2020. However, for the changes to come into force, the treaty must be ratified by the national parliaments of all 19 members. This has long since happened in all other countries. However, the no vote from Italy has now blocked the project.

On the one hand, the aim of the reform is to facilitate precautionary credit lines for countries in economic and financial crises. At the same time, there is to be reinsurance for bank resolution. This joint “backstop” is intended to strengthen Europe’s banking system and protect it from financial crises.

The ESM is a fund from which countries with the euro as their currency can obtain loans in the event of a crisis in order to ensure their solvency. It was launched in 2012. dpa

Kyiv aims to recruit Ukrainians from abroad

Not only does the Ukrainian army lack artillery and drones, but there are also personnel problems: The debate about mobilizing up to 500,000 additional soldiers, as well as considerations to call up Ukrainian men living abroad for frontline deployment, show the pressure the army leadership is under. Discussions about insufficient rotations have been going on in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and extensive reforms for recruiting personnel are already in progress.

In Germany, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees counted exactly 197,072 Ukrainian men aged between 25 and 60 at the end of November, and hundreds of thousands more across the EU. The men can be conscripted within this legally defined age range. This means that they are currently between the ages of 27 and 60. According to a law passed by parliament in March 2023, the lower age limit is to be lowered to 25 in order to expand the reserve. However, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has not yet signed the law.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is now planning to “invite” Ukrainians living abroad to deploy, as Minister Rustem Umjerow put it in an interview with the German newspaper “Bild”. Even consequences for those who do not accept the “invitation” are being considered. It is unclear whether these plans will be supported by Zelenskiy, as he had been rather cautious about the military’s call for a new, extensive mobilization.

Should Kyiv really want to forcefully persuade Ukrainian men from the EU to return and do military service, this will foreseeably lead to diplomatic problems. Only a month ago, Germany extended the special regulation for Ukrainian refugees until March 2025. Of the 1.26 million Ukrainian refugees registered by the beginning of December, 1.03 million have protection status.

Since the start of the war, human rights groups such as Connection and Amnesty International have also been campaigning for asylum protection for men from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who do not want to take part in the war. So far, however, refusal to perform military service has only been a reason for granting asylum in exceptional cases. vf