EUs

In the spring of 2010, physicist Jari Kinaret received an email from the European Commission. The EU’s executive arm was seeking pitches from scientists for ambitious new megaprojects. Known as flagships, the initiatives would focus on innovations that could transform Europe’s scientific and industrial landscape.  Kinaret, a professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, examined the initial proposals. “I was not very impressed,” the 60-year-old tells TNW. “I thought they could find…

Your "right to be forgotten" (or rather, right to erasure) in the European Union now extends to bogus claims about you. The EU's Court of Justice has ruled that Google and similar providers must remove search results on request when they're "manifestly inaccurate." People making the demands will have to prove that there are significant falsehoods, but they'll only have to provide evidence that can be "reasonably" required. They won't have to obtain a judicial ruling, in other words. The search engine creator can't be…

An off the cuff tweet by Elon Musk has left Bulgarians over the moon, hoping the world's richest man may be planning to visit the EU's poorest region. An off the cuff tweet by Elon Musk has left Bulgarians over the moon, hoping the world's richest man may be planning to visit the EU's poorest region.The Tesla, SpaceX and now Twitter boss -- who is not immune to bouts of online whimsy -- recently commented on an image of the towering Belogradchik Rocks in northwestern Bulgaria under menacing clouds. "Pretty sure that…

The penalty hits at the heart of the US tech giant’s power over the Android mobile-phone ecosystem. Google will take its appeal of the record €4.3 billion ($4.5 billion) European Union antitrust fine over its dominance in the Android mobile market to the bloc's top court. The penalty hits at the heart of the US tech giant's power over the Android mobile-phone ecosystem, and in September judges at a lower court mostly sided with the European Commission's arguments but reduced the overall fine to €4.1 billion.…

Google is challenging a record European Union antitrust fine that took aim at the Android operating system's role in restricting mobile competition and consumer choice. The company said that it filed the appeal against the 4.125 billion euro (USD 4.3 billion) penalty "because there are areas that require legal clarification from the European Court of Justice," the EU's top court. Google previously appealed to a lower tribunal, which slightly lowered the original 4.34 billion-euro penalty in a decision largely siding with…

On Tuesday, the European Council approved the EU’s general budget for 2023. This was agreed in negotiations with the European Parliament a week earlier. The two institutions have committed to a total budget of €186.6 billion next year — an increase of 1.1% compared to 2022. According to the Commission, 2023’s budget aims “to boost the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, to put Europe on the path towards a sustainable future, to protect and create jobs, and to strengthen the Union’s…

The EU has reached a deal to build a €6 billion satellite internet system, driven by the bloc’s push to boost its space and communications sectors, while ensuring internet security by curbing reliance on foreign suppliers. This initiative was first proposed in February 2022, but the European Parliament and Commission only reached a provisional agreement on Thursday. This new scheme comes amidst rising concerns about Russian and Chinese military advances in outer space and a surge in satellite…

Italy has introduced a new facial recognition ban, but it features a glaring exemption that is set to echo across the EU. The new ruling outlaws the use of facial recognition technology (FRT) — unless it’s used for crime fighting or judicial investigations. Italy’s Data Protection Agency pledged to maintain the ban until new legislation is adopted, or at least until the end of 2023. “The moratorium stems from the need to regulate eligibility requirements, conditions, and guarantees relating to…

Graphene’s spec sheet reads like a superhero’s profile. Two hundred times stronger than steel, a million times thinner than a human hair, and a thousand times more conductive than copper, it’s no surprise the substance is called a “wonder material.”  When the sheet of carbon was first isolated in 2004 at Manchester University, the breakthrough rocked the scientific world. Countless applications for the “miracle substance” were envisioned, from storing solar power to stitching batteries into…

If you’re planning a new meeting room in your coworking space or startup office, you better buy that big-screen TV soon. From March 1st, 2023, the EU is set to ban all 8K TVs and some 4K models from the European market. That’s gotta suck if you have made booking the boardroom out to play Minecraft under the pretence of a meeting a fine art. What’s behind the ban? EU legislation on energy labelling aims to eliminate the least efficient products from the market. Since September 1st, 2021, every…