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Iceland rejects EU vote in referendum focussed on Trump and fishing

Iceland has rejected a proposal to restart negotiations on joining the European Union.

A vote over the weekend took place more than a decade after previous talks ended. It was held in the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated threats to control nearby Greenland, which drove some voters to favor the idea of European solidarity.

The vote will put the long-debated issue to rest more than a decade after a euroskeptic government ended EU talks.

Opponents defeated the measure by a margin of 52.8% to 47.2%, RUV reported.


Good news, maybe 52.8% realise the EU would betray them.

Europe made food abundant. Then Brussels decided to produce less

Richard Schenk has an interesting Brussels Signal piece on EU meddling with the production of what was once abundant in Europe - food. 

Well worth reading for Schenk's key point - the consequences of equating progress with producing less. It ties in with the the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.

Europe made food abundant. Then Brussels decided to produce less

The Common Agricultural Policy emerged from a Europe that remembered war scarcity. Europe created abundance so successfully that it eventually forgot why producing food mattered.

Farmers even became targets of resentment, supposedly bathing in EU subsidies. Yet agricultural support declined substantially relative to the European economy. Common Agricultural Policy spending fell from 0.54 per cent of EU GDP in the 1990s to 0.36 per cent in 2023, according to the Commission’s own figures.

Environmental protection is not the problem. Farmers have an obvious interest in fertile soil, reliable water and a functioning natural environment.

The problem begins when environmental ambitions become detached from producing food, or become entangled with a degrowth philosophy in which producing less is itself treated as progress.

I find it difficult to really understand what happened behind the scenes

New Schuman roundabout is 'worst' possible outcome, says architect

The symbolic EU plaza has become a barren concrete lagoon, after three years of building work

  

Plan                                          Outcome

The man who redesigned the iconic Schuman roundabout, at the heart of the European quarter, has delivered a scathing verdict on the final result.

“We ended up really with the square that nobody wanted,” said Francis De Wolf, the leading Belgian architect on the project, told Euractiv...

“Now it’s too late in a way,” he said. It’s very unrealistic to imagine the canopy can still be built, he said, as it would require extensive building work to attach the foundations to the tunnels beneath the roundabout. “You’d have to break open the whole square again.”

De Wolf is baffled about how the project turned out so badly. “I’m not a politician … and I find it difficult to really understand what happened behind the scenes.”

It never goes away

EU's 'chat control' plan is back: Critics warn it could allow governments to scan your private message

Privacy advocates warn of potential overreach as EU revisits controversial messaging regulations.

The European Union's controversial 'Chat Control' proposal is back on the agenda after fresh negotiations this week, bringing back discussions over whether governments should be able to scan private messages in the name of child protection.

Ahead of a crucial round of talks on Monday, former Member of the European Parliament Patrick Breyer warned that the latest developments could pave the way for widespread monitoring of encrypted communications if the proposed rules move forward...

Critics argue that the proposal goes far beyond targeting illegal material already known to authorities. In its strongest form, they warn that it could allow governments to issue detection orders requiring companies to scan private messages, even without a judicial warrant.

Two 2030 target dates

Volkswagen drawing up plans to cut 100,000 jobs globally, reports say

Germany’s Volkswagen is drawing up proposals for a major overhaul that will see 100,000 jobs cut in the next few years, double that of previously unveiled plans, reports say.

Top bosses are considering restructuring and dramatically cutting down the size of the workforce in a bid to make cost savings worth 11 billion euro (£9.5 billion) by 2030, according to local media.


2030 climate targets

The 2030 climate and energy framework includes EU-wide targets and policy objectives for the period from 2021 to 2030.

Reducing emissions - raising our ambition

In 2023, the EU adopted a set of Commission proposals to make the EU's climate, energy, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

This will enable the EU to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.


Two 2030 target dates, maybe there is a connection. Ed Miliband should know - and the destructive loon probably does.

EU Commissioners annoyed by e-cars

EU Commissioners annoyed by e-cars: Charging break slows down journey from Brussels to Strasbourg

In Brussels, the EU Commission's electric company car fleet is causing trouble because the available e-cars cannot make the approximately 440-kilometer route from Brussels to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg without a charging break. The vehicles are part of the authority's green fleet conversion, which started in 2022, but the regular business trips between the two EU locations put a strain on range, scheduling and confidential workflows. In particular, the charging stop in Luxembourg extends the journey, while some EU commissioners only want to use the train to a limited extent due to sensitive phone calls.

EU Commissioners experience range problem on business trips

The EU Commission wants to make its own fleet completely emission-free by 2027. That is why many top officials and commissioners already drive electric company cars. However, the case shows that political climate goals can fail in everyday government work due to range, charging time and route profile.

Doubly ironic because an EU Commissioner's time is of so little practical value. They must think their time is valuable of course, but that is not likely to be a widely shared opinion.

Maybe they could try to rewrite the laws of physics and chemistry via an EU directive. 

Wes aims to make voting even more pointless

Streeting’s call for UK to rejoin EU pulls Labour back into Brexit war

Wes Streeting has called for the UK to rejoin the EU as he laid out his bid to No 10 in a much anticipated speech this weekend.

The former health secretary said he will be running for Labour leader after dramatically quitting his role as a Cabinet minister earlier this week.

He said leaving the EU was a “catastrophic mistake” as he stressed it was time for the UK to build a new “special relationship” with the Union, adding that Labour risks risks becoming “handmaidens” to Nigel Farage in the next general election.

Streeting doesn't seem to be suggesting a formal request to become a member of the EU here. It's more of a slogan pandering to the traditional Labour determination to keep a firm lid on the aspirations of working people. The EU does that for them, it curtails the point of voting to an even greater degree than national politics.

If Streeting grabs the top job, there are sound reasons to anticipate someone worse than Starmer.

EU throws itself under a bus

From Blackout News, AI translation from the original German.

EU pays Senegal 320 million euros for buses – China collects the order from Dakar

In Senegal, an EU-funded transport project is facing a delicate decision. For Dakar, 380 natural gas-powered buses, 14 lines, two depots, around 700 stops, 13 terminals, a ticketing system and road works are to be built. The financing is around 320 million euros. But the Chinese state-owned company CRRC is reportedly considered the favorite. The EU Commission cannot prevent an award to China as long as the tender is formally correct. This would allow European funds to pay Chinese fines. European manufacturers are affected, while China could further expand its influence in Africa.

The project is part of the EU's Global Gateway Strategy. Brussels wants to use it to promote infrastructure in Africa. At the same time, Dakar is to receive cleaner and more reliable local transport.

The financing is provided by several European institutions. These include the EU Commission, the European Investment Bank, KfW and the French AFD. That is why loans and grants are flowing into a project that reaches far beyond Dakar politically.

Inside Europe’s propaganda apparatus

Luca Steinmann has a very interesting Brussels Signal piece on Italian journalist Thomas Fazi and his investigations into the EU propaganda apparatus. A familiar issue but well worth reading, particularly in the context of what USAID has been doing in the US.

Inside Europe’s propaganda apparatus: Thomas Fazi exposes how the EU influences media, NGOs, and universities

“The European Union is facing a geopolitical crisis that is difficult to reverse. In response, it has developed a wide-ranging propaganda apparatus to promote narratives favourable to its institutions and policies. This system operates through funding directed towards NGOs, newspapers, news agencies, and think tanks that produce narratives and analyses broadly aligned with the EU’s policy framework”.

This is the view of Thomas Fazi, an Italian journalist, writer and political commentator. He is the author of several books that critically examine the economic and political structure of the European Union. His latest essay, recently published in Italy, is titled The European Propaganda Machine. The Dark Side of NGOs, Media and Universities, in which he analyses the system of funding and relationships through which EU institutions support NGOs, media, and universities in order to build consensus around their policies.

The whole piece is a useful reminder of how far the EU goes and how much it spends to undermine democratically elected governments.

“Since the European Commission is not directly elected by national electorates, this amounts to an attempt to use foreign funding to pressure or weaken democratically elected governments.”

This, Fazi argues, resembles in some respects what USAID has done for decades, where formally independent organisations often pursue political agendas aligned with the interests of their funders. From this perspective, the issue is not simply the promotion of European integration, but the use of public funds to influence domestic political processes and public debate within member states. “From this perspective, the objective is not neutrality but influence over public opinion, particularly in countries with strong eurosceptic political forces”.

EU Raises Price of Indulgences

Brussels sets new CO2 price – EU drives up import costs in the middle of the crisis


In the midst of the tense situation surrounding the Iran war, the EU Commission in Brussels has set the first fixed CO2 price for its new border tariff, thus creating an additional cost risk for importers, industry and agriculture. For the first quarter, the reference value is 75.36 euros per certificate of the CO2 border adjustment mechanism CBAM. Imports of steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizers are affected. The fees will apply to imports from January 2026, while the necessary certificates will not have to be purchased until 2027. The critical point, however, lies in the timing of this decision, because supply problems and rising costs are already massively burdening the markets due to the Iran war. The main consequence is therefore clear: companies have to plan for new additional costs, farmers continue to come under price pressure and Europe's dependence on sensitive supply chains remains.


Meanwhile -

Million-dollar fraud with invented wind farms

The German case is so destructive because it hits the core of the business. According to reports on the ARD documentary, Hendrik Holt is said to have obtained around ten million euros with accomplices and relatives. Alleged wind farms were sold to foreign energy companies, although these projects did not actually exist. In addition, according to reports, there were forged documents, bogus structures and bribery. The judiciary sentenced Holt to almost nine years in prison. So the damage did not occur in spite of formal processes, but in the middle of them.

A Peculiar Ritual

Emmanuel Igwe has an interesting Critic piece on the gap between the Starmer/Blob narrative on UK-EU trade and ONS data. 


Brexit was not an act of economic self-harm

Whatever you have heard, UK-EU trade is doing just fine

Some circles of the British commentariat have perfected a peculiar ritual: that of prodding through good economic news, only to declare such news as bad. A major target for such investigation is Britain’s post-Brexit data. The latest data released by the Office for National Statistics quietly refutes the established narrative that “Brexit did deep damage to our economy”, as our Prime Minister said on 1st April. I promise you, it was not an April Fool’s joke.

When measured in real terms, after Brexit total exports rose by more than 23 percent, from £735 billion in 2015 to £905 billion in 2025. Meanwhile, the fact that Britain’s trade has grown faster than GDP in the same period is an even sharper rebuttal of assertion by erstwhile Remainers that Brexit was an act of economic self-harm. These numbers are empirically robust, unarguable, and yet noticeably avoided in mainstream political discourse.

The whole piece is well worth reading as yet another indicator that Starmer/Bob has yet to get over their hatred of Brexit and those who voted for it.

Despite the growing prevalence of non-EU trade for Britain, our current Labour government continues to insist on the importance of “dynamic alignment” with various EU standards and regimes — that is, mirroring EU regulations onto British statute books whenever the EU changes them. Under dynamic alignment, Britain’s regulatory scope would be defined in offices it cannot enter and decided by parliamentarians not elected by the British people.

Paying bureaucrats to define marmalade

Marmalade may need to be relabelled as part of post-Brexit deal

Marmalade may need to be relabelled if a post-Brexit food deal is a agreed with the European Union as part of the government’s attempt to slash red tape and reduce trade friction with the bloc.

The spread will need to be sold as “citrus marmalade” if the agreement - which would see Britain readopt EU food regulations to boost trade - goes ahead.

The name change would reportedly be required because the EU is relaxing its labelling rules to widen the legal definition of marmalade across Europe.


We're used to this of course, it's just one of an uncountable number of EU petty bureaucracy stories we've been treated to over the years.

Oh well, it's worth reminding ourselves that there are bureaucrats paid to perform excitingly vital tasks such as relaxing the legal definition of marmalade. After previous bureaucrats were paid to make it tight of course. 

Yet it would surprise nobody at all if the relaxed legal definition has to be tightened again when a marmalade scandal erupts. The Tight Marmaladians could yet win.

Relaxing the marmalade definition doesn't quite put the Artemis II project in the shade, but it seems to be closer to the kind of adventure Keir Starmer favours. I bet he's a closet Tight Marmaladian though.

Handing over the managed decline of the UK

Starmer signals need for closer ties with EU in light of Iran oil crisis 'storm'

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted Labour’s manifesto red lines on closer relations with Europe remain, as he signalled the Government will seek stronger ties with the EU in light of the Iran war’s global impact.

The Prime Minister said the “volatile” international situation caused by the US-Israeli conflict with Tehran meant Britain’s “long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union”.


Keir Starmer hardly needs to spell it out. He would deny it of course, but all we can read is his behaviour and that is clear enough - the managed decline of the UK is something he is prepared to hand over to the EU.

UK ruling elites have experience of managed decline but the EU has more. The Iran conflict is merely an opportunity to hand over the incompetence too. Another area where the EU has bags of experience.

Words v Action

EU summit ends in strong words but little action

European Union leaders emerged yesterday from a 12-hour summit overshadowed by two wars on Europe’s doorstep, yet with little to show beyond rhetoric...

European Council President António Costa attempted to frame the stakes in stark terms, arguing that upholding the international rules-based order was essential because “the alternative is chaos” and “if you want to preserve peace, we need to uphold the international law and uphold the multilateral system”. He explicitly pointed to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East as examples of what is at risk.

That sense of urgency, though, did not translate into action.

As we know, lots of people in the UK favour reaffirming our marriage vows with this lot, including that strange chap who pretends to be UK Prime Minister. Maybe demonstrations of obvious irrelevance such as this will change attitudes, but it doesn't seem likely.

La-La Land Beckons

EU countries give final approval to 2040 climate target for 90% emissions cut

New EU climate target can now pass into law

Goal to cut emissions 90% among world’s ambitious

EU facing political pushback on green agenda

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) – European ‌Union countries gave the final approval on Thursday to a new climate target to slash greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2040, pressing ahead with the bloc’s ambitious climate agenda despite political resistance.

The new climate target ​is a hard-fought political compromise, struck by governments and EU lawmakers last year. ​It is more ambitious than most major economies’ emissions-cutting commitments, including China’s.

Don't do it - they will nick your cod

Iceland seeks vote in August on whether to restart EU membership talks

Iceland’s government says the country will hold a referendum in August on whether to restart European Union membership talks

Iceland's government wants to hold a referendum in August on whether to restart membership talks with the European Union, more than a decade after getting cold feet about joining the bloc.

But where is the intelligence?

EU Parliament bans AI use on government work devices

• Internal email reveals EU Parliament has banned AI tools due to cloud processing
• "Some of these features use cloud services to carry out tasks that could be handled locally"
• Workers also asked to exercise caution when using personal devices and AI for work tasks

The European Parliament has turned off built-in AI features on the devices it issues employees due to cybersecurity and data protection concerns.


“And every day, every hour, today, tomorrow and for all time the bureaucratic machine works smoothly, without hitch or pause, as though not made of men, but as though it were made of wheels and springs. But where is the intelligence animating and moving this edifice of papers?” thought Alexander: “in the books, in the papers themselves or in the heads of these men?”

Ivan Goncharov – The Same Old Story (1847)

A Speech

A speech by Sir Keir Rodney Starmer who appointed -

• Ed Miliband as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero 
• Rachel Reeves as Chancellor of the Exchequer 
• Peter Mandelson as British Ambassador to the United States

Keir Starmer sparks huge reaction in speech to Euro leaders with words that betray Brexit

Sir Keir Starmer sparked a reaction among several European leaders after making a nine-word Brexit Britain comment during a key speech in Munich. The Prime Minister made the comments on the second day of the Munich Security Conference and just over six years since the UK left the European Union on January 31, 2020.

He said: "We are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore." The comment sparked a round of applause from European leaders gathered in the room. Sir Keir added: "Because we know that in a dangerous world, we would not take control by turning inward, we would surrender it, and I won't let that happen. That's why I devote time as Prime Minister to Britain's leadership on the world stage, and that's why I'm here today, because I am clear there is no British security without Europe and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history, and is today's reality as well."

Two Headlines

VW and Stellantis urge help to keep carmaking in Europe

Europe’s largest carmakers Volkswagen and Stellantis have called for subsidies to keep carmaking in the EU as they struggle with challenges from US tariffs to Chinese competition, in an article published Thursday.

Electric cars largely made within the bloc should benefit from subsidies for buyers, orders from government as well as a “CO2 bonus” paid directly to carmakers, VW boss Oliver Blume and Stellantis chief Antonio Filosa said.


Four further Chinese car brands announced in the UK

UK car buyers have had to get used to a lot of new brands over the past few years. The introduction of these launches are met with increasing consumer enthusiasm, too.

BYD, for example (which quickly took my advice to stick with BYD and not plaster Build Your Dreams across the back of every car) sold 51,422 cars in the UK last year – giving them a 2.5 per cent share of the market. That’s more than Citroen, Cupra, Dacia, Honda, Mazda and a host of other established brands.

The stupidity of the century

Carl Deconinck has an interesting Brussels Signal piece on trenchant criticisms of European green energy policies made by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.

Green energy policies are destroying Europe: Belgian PM De Wever

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has come out against European “green” policies, accusing them of causing de-industrialisation.

Speaking on the evening of January 29 at The Future of Europe, an event run by Belgian newspapers De Tijd en L’Echo, De Wever was highly critical of earlier decisions on the production of energy, which he said made everything more expensive and harmed the European economy.


The whole piece is well worth reading as an extremely belated recognition that Europe's weaknesses are self-inflicted. The EU isn't mentioned, but there do seem to be hints that some senior politicians prefer to direct their criticisms at 'Europe' rather than lose them in the EU swamp.

According to De Wever, this exposed all Europe’s weaknesses and made things “extremely complicated with environmental rules that make it impossible to provide for our own energy needs, that make it impossible to mine for rare minerals in Europe”. The continent also has “no military capacity”.

At the same time, China is popping up in Africa and South America, where there is almost no European presence.

“We made our life extremely hard. We’ve made dogmatic choices against nuclear energy which was the stupidity of the century,” he said.