Chris Powers

So Axel Springer has bought the UK’s Telegraph?

Makes sense.

Iceland locks in on date for EU referendum | Euractiv As a member of the European Economic Area, Iceland is already aligned with much of the bloc's legislation

Just announced: Iceland has urgently moved up its referendum to join the European Union - to 29 August.

A reminder: 🇮🇸 is in many ways already a non-voting 🇪🇺 member because of the EEA. This would give them voting power to shape the laws they have to follow.

Belgium’s Africa Museum has been making the news lately because of American machinations to get hold of more cobalt deposits.

I’ve read about and written about cobalt, but couldn’t have said what it looks like in a rock.

Here we go 💎

4,002 users on Eurosky

1000 more users within the last 24h 🚀

Jusqu'à quand la Suisse pourra danser avec l'Union européenne (et vice versa) ? Bonjour ! Nous sommes David Carretta, Christian Spillmann et Oliver Grimm, les auteurs de la Matinale Européenne.

La Matinale Européenne est sortie

@werlych.bsky.social rentre dans les « Amis de la Matinale » et nous offre un grand angle: « Jusqu'à quand la Suisse pourra danser avec l'Union européenne (et vice versa) ? »

Le reste (Iran, Orban, migration) avec @cspillmann.bsky.social rt @grimmse.bsky.social 👇

Polish president and central bank chief present "sovereign" alternative to €44bn EU defence loans

Poland’s ‘sovereign’ alternative to SAFE loans, to be spent mostly on foreign defence products. 🤪

The best bit: Poland’s president Karol Nawrocki, from PiS, who proposed the alternative, calls it “Polish SAFE 0%”.

I don’t think I read it how he intended! 😂

notesfrompoland.com/2026/03/04/p...

🍦 ☀️ Belgium’s, maybe Europe’s, best ice cream!

Gaasbeek, just outside Brussels :-)

Great issue of Belgium in Brief by @brusselstimes.com today covering everything from shadow fleet, to the effect of the US-Israel war on Iran on our energy prices, and more.

us8.campaign-archive.com?e=349ef79e27...

I guess important to know is if the video format is replacing a physical meeting or is additional.

Europe's digital dependence has become a threat, De Wever warns Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever has called on Europe to act urgently on technological autonomy and a stronger innovation policy. "Our digital...

It also echoes his call for the EU to crack on with unifying capital markets so that companies can scale up, something he mentions in his latest book Over Welvaart (on prosperity)

www.belganewsagency.eu/europes-digi...

Plugging the €30bn Ukraine funding gap expected to be worked through at the March European Council.

No mention of the reparations loan, which was being re-floated just last week. But I imagine it would take some time to articulate a real proposal that Belgium could agree to on that!

Good to see this Flemish editorial:

Spain vs Trump: Sànchez shows Europe that there’s another way besides submission.

Europe must have its own voice. It was sad to see von der Leyen scrambling to echo Trump over the weekend. She could, should, have held back for 2 mins and thought it through..

Brussels' Schuman roundabout works to be completed by autumn Belgium confirmed that no canopy had been ordered for the "new" Schuman roundabout due to the additional cost of €13 million.

The Schuman roundabout works keep coming up in conversation, about when it will end – later this year it seems.

In the meantime, though it’s still very disrupted, it’s nice to have so much more pedestrian space around the cafes there.

www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/2004...

Belgium rules out military support for US-Israel war on Iran The minister distanced himself from the current military campaign by Washington and Tel Aviv, which he described as "against international law."

It’s good that more and more European politicians, across the spectrum, are acknowledging the US-Israeli attack on Iran is against international law.

Slow to do so, but better late than not at all.
www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/2005...

"Elke dag 120 kilometer": Guy (56) fietst dagelijks naar het werk, net als 1 op de 4 Vlamingen | VRT NWS Nieuws "De beste keuze die ik ooit heb gemaakt." Dat zegt Guy Bresseleers (56) uit Merksem over zijn beslissing om elke dag met de fiets naar het werk te gaan. Hij is niet alleen: 1 op de 4 Vlamingen fietste...

Some very promising numbers on the rise of cycling in Belgium, with the change in Brussels truly transformative – in large part thanks to e-bikes.

Positive news :-)
vrtnws.be/p.QABRpxqXG

Taiwan’s FM calls for Taipei to be part of 'first island chain' security framework.

Looking at a map, it’s nuts they aren’t part of it already!

www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/03...

A much-needed bit of good news!

The American Dream

Just in: Emmanuel Macron has called Pedro Sánchez to "express France's European solidarity in response to the recent threats of economic coercion, of which Spain was the target yesterday," says l'Élysée.

About time.

We reaffirm our firm commitment to the principles of international law and the rules-based order everywhere in the world.

I have just held a call with President Pedro Sánchez to express the EU’s full solidarity with Spain.

The EU will always ensure that the interests of its Member States are fully protected.

One aspect that's difficult with this discussion is that Belgium is directly going against an agreement between a US company and the DRC.

Belgium's plans (open digital access) really would be more in the interest of the Congolese people.

But how to say Belgium knows best, given our colonial past?

Was talking about Belgium's Africa Museum and the battle with Kobold over its maps (which can point to sources of critical minerals) literally this morning and then I see a write-up of it over on @eurcorrespond.bsky.social – very good!

newsletter-cdn.europeancorrespondent.com/go/ptc1miu5g...

Good rapporteur this morning from @eddywax.bsky.social & @nicolettaionta.bsky.social.

Was bemused reading that anyone would still fear falling foul of WTO rules. Given the US & China have ripped up the world order, maybe time for those officials to recognise that and build something new(?).

Commission registers European Citizens\' Initiative calling for a European social media platform Today, the European Commission has registered a European Citizens\' Initiative (ECI), entitled ‘European Public Social Network\'.\nThe initiative invites the Commission to establish, through a legisla...

Interesting development ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

What comes first: FCAS agreement or GTA6? 🧐

Sánchez says Spain won’t temper criticism of Trump’s attack on Iran over ‘fear of reprisals’ Spanish PM insists he won’t bow to U.S. commercial pressure, as he leads international opposition to the strikes against Tehran.

🚨🚨 Unusual with such moral integrity for a European political leader: Spanish PM Pedro Sanches insists that #Spain won't temper criticism of #Trump's attacks on #Iran over fear of reprisals and commercial pressure. 👇
www.politico.eu/article/pedr...

Aucun pour tous, tous pour aucun : la clause d’assistance mutuelle vide de l’Europe Bonjour ! Nous sommes David Carretta, Christian Spillmann et Oliver Grimm, les auteurs de la Matinale Européenne.

Another very helpful issue of la Matinale Européenne this morning to get a handle on what's going on: lamatinaleeuropeenne.substack.com/p/aucun-pour...

Everything from EU mutual defence, through to the Hungary-Ukraine dispute, and the Industrial Accelerator Act (being unveiled today). V.useful!

It wasn't looking good for European bison when the last wild individual was shot in 1927. The wisent, as it is also called, was declared extinct in the wild. Its last survivors were kept in zoos.