Kinderschutz: Brüssel nimmt US-Plattformen ins Visier ⌘ Read more

Ungarisches Agentennetz in Brüssel enttarnt ⌘ Read more

Defizitverfahren angekündigt
Seit November steht es im Raum, am Mittwoch hat die Europäische Kommission tatsächlich den ersten Schritt zur Einleitung eines EU-Defizitverfahrens gegen Österreich gemacht. Nach der Feststellung eines übermäßigen Defizits kündigte sie an, ein Verfahren zu empfehlen. Nachdem das vermutlich Ende Juni formell erfolgt, muss es danach noch der Rat der Wirtschafts- und Finanzminister beschließen. Das könnte bei seinem Treffen am 8. Juli in Brüssel geschehen. ⌘ Read more

New (February 2025) paper, https://cms.mgt.tum.de/fileadmin/mgt.tum.de/faculty_and_research/mppe/39_Nora_von_Ingersleben-Seip_How_the_European_Union_Fell_Out_Of_Love_With_Open-Source_Software.pdf , describes “How the European Union Fell Out of Love with Open-Source Software”:

“A coalition of determined open-source software (OSS) advocates and a handful of technology experts working in the European Commission set out in 2004 to end Microsoft’s monopoly. They almost succeeded. This article reveals how they managed to change the EU’s software policies, made Microsoft lobbyists work overtime - and in the end, and despite their best efforts, could not withstand the power of proprietary companies’ lobbying campaigns.

Drawing on the Multiple Streams Framework, the article explains the European Commission’s decision to promote OSS and open standards in 2004, and its puzzling decision to reverse course just a few years later, in 2010, despite its unchanged rhetoric about the benefits of openness. The analysis reveals three key factors that drove the changes in the EU’s policies.

In 2004, OSS advocates managed to frame the EU’s dependency on proprietary software as a problem – and the promotion of OSS and open standards as the solution.

In 2010, #Microsoft and other proprietary companies used their existing connections in Brussels to sow doubt about the maturity and cost of #OSS among #EU policymakers.”

25 years later we’re where we started.

#OpenSource #EIF

FOSDEM 2025
I recently attended the large Free and Open Source Software conference
FOSDEM 2025 in Brussels, Belgium. I went there by train, of course,
via Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Cologne. The same route back.

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I lived in the rather expensive, allegedly fancy hotel Le Châtelain in
Brussels. It was really not that fancy, but they had a … ⌘ Read more

On my way to FOSDEM 2025
I’m leaving by train for FOSDEM 2025 in Brussels, Belgium tomorrow
morning, arriving tomorrow evening, Goddess willing.

During FOSDEM I’ll probably mostly be in the Security devroom.

My presentation about the Tillitis TKey is on Saturday at 14:30.

I’m bringing some TKeys, both enduser and unlocked, and a couple of
TKey flash programmers if you want to … ⌘ Read more

Farmers Dismantle Police Barricade in Brussels Protest
Farmers in tractors clashed with police in Brussels on Monday, February 26, the same day the European Union’s agriculture ministers gathered for a meeting in the Belgian city. Footage recorded by Pieter Clepp shows a tractor dismantling a police barricade. Other footage showed police firing water cannons at tractors and hay being dumped on roads. Farmers across Europe have been protesting … ⌘ Read more

Water Cannons Force Tractor to Reverse During Brussels Farmers’ Protest
Police used water cannons to force a tractor to retreat as protesting farmers clashed with authorities in Brussels on Monday, February 26, the same day the European Union’s agriculture ministers gathered for a meeting in the city. Footage recorded by Marc Tilley showed a tractor driving toward a police barricade. The police aim water cannons at the tractor … ⌘ Read more

Slurry Sprayed Onto Brussels Street Amid Fractious Farmer Protest
The uncustomary “stench of manure” was in the air in Brussels on February 26, Politico said, as protesting farmers again descended on the EU capital, in time for a meeting of the bloc’s agriculture ministers. According to the Brussels Times, police were being “bombarded” with dung, and responded with tear gas and water cannons. Tractors were also seen driving through … ⌘ Read more

European farmers protests turn fiery in Brussels
Farmers on Monday (February 26) dumped tires on the streets of the Belgian capital before setting them on fire, in the latest of many protests by farmers across Europe against competition from cheap food imports, excessive environmental rules and subsidies favoring large firms. Francis Maguire reports. ⌘ Read more

Protesting farmers jam Brussels with tractors as ministers meet
Farmers set fire to piles of tyres in Brussels on Monday in a protest to demand EU action on issues ranging from cheap supermarket prices to free trade deals, as agricultural ministers met to discuss the crisis in the sector. ⌘ Read more

Europe’s chance to be a leader in the age of AI
Below are my prepared remarks delivered at the EU Open Source Policy Summit in Brussels on Feb 3rd. ⌘ Read more

Plus que 5 ans à attendre #covid19 #vaccine ⌘ Read more…

Surviving in Brussels - because precarity is the new normal, the new “classe moyenne” ⌘ Read more…

Tonight in #Brussels you can almost hear the sound of relief crawling around the world right now, problems are not gone, but at least we can work now ! ⌘ https://blog.rmendes.net/2020/tonight-in-brussels-you-can-almost-hear-the-sound-of

Brussels: beer, cocktails and Korean takeaway ⌘ https://luxtimes.lu/the-hub/41916-brussels-beer-cocktails-and-korean-takeaway

The Heritage Beer Brewed With Some Help From Spiders - Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lambic-beer-spiders-brussels-belgium-breweries