Author: Roel Thijssen

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The Architecture of Fear: Inside Putin’s Bunker State

Russia operates increasingly under the command of an isolated, security-obsessed leadership trapped within a self-constructed fortress.

Putin’s Bunkers

Drawing on extensive investigative reporting by foreign correspondent Benjamin Quenelle for the French newspaper Le Monde, Vladimir Putin’s governance has largely retreated into a network of reinforced bunkers, armored transports, and identical decoy offices.

What began as extreme sanitary isolation during the pandemic has hardened into a permanent political doctrine. Having tied his personal survival directly to the outcome of the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin leader governs through the lens of acute vulnerability, operating on an unforgiving logic where any sign of failure is perceived as fatal.

This personal retreat has driven a massive expansion of the security apparatus, transferring immense authority to the siloviki. As Le Monde highlights, officers from the intelligence and security services have effectively consolidated power around the executive.

The Federal Protection Service (FSO) has grown substantially to maintain continuous surveillance, deploy dedicated drone defense units, and test daily provisions. At the same time, the 370,000-strong National Guard enforces domestic compliance and regime priorities across the country.

Yet this elite security bloc is far from uniform. Growing rivalries, overlapping jurisdictions, and generational divisions between older loyalists and younger system bureaucrats have created a volatile internal dynamic. A critical question now looms over the Kremlin: when systemic pressure peaks, will these elites protect the leader or protect the apparatus itself?

According to Russian political analysts cited in the investigation, this internal insecurity results in a deliberate strategy of dual escalation. The regime simultaneously intensifies military aggression abroad while tightening totalitarian control at home to prevent any cracks in authority.

The Kremlin has cultivated a climate of pervasive suspicion, turning state security into the guiding principle of all public life. The Federal Security Service actively encourages mutual denunciations among citizens, while treason and espionage prosecutions have surged to numbers unseen since the Soviet era.

From the censorship of cultural institutions to the direct monitoring of school curricula by security officers, Russia’s internal landscape has been thoroughly restructured.

The Russian state has transformed into a defensive machine, trapped in both a physical and political bunker of its own making.

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Europe’s Illusion of Peace: Why Diplomatic Protests Will Not Stop Russian Sabotage

Russian Agression

​For years, European capitals comforted themselves with a convenient euphemism: “hybrid warfare.” It was a neat, bureaucratic label that allowed leaders to file sabotage, arson, cyberattacks, and targeted strikes under the banner of ambiguous gray-zone activity. Because if an act of aggression does not arrive in the form of a declared military invasion, no one is forced to invoke mutual defense clauses, redraw budgets, or make politically uncomfortable decisions.

Russian Agression
Russian Agression

Recent events in Germany make that comfortable fiction impossible to sustain. When a drone assault targets a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport using military grade explosives and detonators linked directly to Russian state operations, that is not merely an incident. When power substations in Brandenburg and Bergheim are sabotaged within days of each other, and grenades detonate near Ukrainian nationals at Augsburg station, calling it a series of coincidences is willful blindness.

Even Brussels has begun to shift its tone, with European Commission leadership acknowledging the military nature of these operations and calling them what they truly resemble: state-sponsored terrorism on European soil.

Yet naming the threat is only half the battle. The far more alarming issue is the complete absence of a credible response.

​Closing two consulates and a cultural institute in response to physical sabotage on critical infrastructure is not deterrence. It is diplomatic theater. It signals to Moscow that operations within the European Union carry virtually zero cost. If the response to orchestrated physical disruption on EU soil remains confined to press releases, rapid-response advisory teams, and modest consular expulsions, then deterrence has failed before it has even begun.

The harsh truth is that Russian intimidation is working, largely because Europe’s domestic politics are beginning to crack under the strain.

Across the continent, war fatigue and economic anxieties are eroding the political resolve needed to push back against aggression. In Germany, regional elections threaten to elevate factions eager to roll back sanctions and sever aid to Kyiv. In Italy, internal political pressure mounts against continued defense commitments. In Belgium, debates stall over mobilizing seized Russian assets. Even in the Netherlands, prominent political voices openly parrot talking points that serve Moscow’s interests, seemingly oblivious to our own recent history and national security vulnerabilities.

Meanwhile, Washington makes no secret of its reluctance to guarantee European security indefinitely. The strategic umbrella that Western Europe relied upon for eight decades is fraying at both ends.

Europe is caught in a dangerous pincer movement: externally targeted by escalating state sabotage, and internally paralyzed by political fragmentation and military dependency. We want the benefits of peace without paying the price of autonomy. We demand security while refusing to build the sovereign industrial and defense capacity required to enforce it.
​Looking away has long been Europe’s preferred crisis management strategy. Delay the decision, form a committee, issue a condemnation, and hope the storm passes. But ignoring an adversary who is already operating inside your perimeter does not buy stability. It only guarantees that when the bill finally comes due, the cost will be catastrophic.

​If Europe wishes to remain master of its own destiny, it must trade performative outrage for tangible strength. That means real consequences for sabotage, genuine military autonomy, and the political courage to tell citizens the truth: peace is not preserved by looking the other way.

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When Does Autumn Really Start? The Science Behind Meteorological vs. Astronomical Seasons

Autumn leaves

Every year in early September, a familiar question resurfaces: has autumn already begun, or do we have to wait until late September? The answer depends entirely on whether you look at the calendar through the lens of atmospheric climate data or orbital mechanics.

Autumn leaves
Autumn leaves

The Underlying Distinction

Meteorological seasons are designed for climate science and statistical consistency. Meteorologists split the year into four fixed, three-month periods that align with the Gregorian calendar and annual temperature patterns.

Astronomical seasons, by contrast, are determined by the Earth’s orbit and its axial tilt relative to the Sun. Because the Earth’s orbit is elliptical and a solar year is roughly 365.25 days, the astronomical start dates shift slightly every year, typically falling between the 20th and 23rd of the month.

Seasonal Breakdown

​Autumn: Meteorological autumn always begins on September 1 and ends on November 30. Astronomical autumn begins at the autumnal equinox, which usually occurs around September 22 or 23, when day and night are of roughly equal length.

Winter: Meteorological winter runs from December 1 through the end of February. Astronomical winter starts at the winter solstice, usually around December 21 or 22, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

Spring: Meteorological spring begins on March 1 and ends on May 31. Astronomical spring starts at the vernal equinox, around March 20 or 21, when the Sun crosses the celestial equator northward.

Summer: Meteorological summer spans June 1 to August 31. Astronomical summer starts at the summer solstice, around June 20 to 22, bringing the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

Why Both Systems Exist

​Meteorological definitions simplify long-term record-keeping. If climate researchers had to adjust the boundaries of seasons each year based on fractional orbital timings, tracking global temperature anomalies and multi-decade trends would be unnecessarily messy. Grouping months into tidy, uniform quarters provides a stable baseline.

Astronomical seasons remain the natural markers of light and celestial geometry, reflecting the physical progression of our planet around the Sun rather than human record-keeping convenience.

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The Evolutionary Genius of Chili Peppers

Chili Pepper

​Biting into a fiery chili can feel like breathing actual flames. That searing heat is not just a culinary thrill; it is the result of a brilliant evolutionary survival strategy centered on a single chemical compound: capsaicin.

Chili Pepper
Capsaicin creates chili heat as an evolutionary survival strategy

​Targeted Defense and Seed Dispersal

Chili peppers developed capsaicin primarily as a dual defense mechanism. In their native habitats across Central and South America, wild peppers faced threats from seed bugs that introduced damaging Fusarium fungi. Capsaicin naturally inhibits fungal growth, protecting the developing fruit from rotting on the branch.

​At the same time, capsaicin acts as a targeted deterrent against mammals. When rodents chew on chili peppers, their molars crush the seeds, rendering them unable to germinate. Birds, on the other hand, possess a genetic variation in their pain receptors that makes them completely immune to capsaicin. They swallow the nutritious berries whole and excrete the seeds undamaged in ideal, shaded environments under trees. ​

The Pioneering Insights of Joshua Tewksbury

​This sophisticated interplay between fungi, mammals, and birds was largely unraveled by the pioneering research of American evolutionary biologist Joshua Tewksbury. Through extensive fieldwork, particularly with wild chili populations in Bolivia and Arizona, Tewksbury demonstrated how capsaicin allows the plant to selectively direct its reproductive fate. He famously used comparative feeding trials to show that desert mice completely avoid pungent chilies, while curve-billed thrashers consume them freely. Crucially, his later work revealed the complex trade-offs: while capsaicin is a vital defense against Fusarium fungi in wet environments, producing it is energetically costly, leading to populations of non-pungent chilies in drier regions where the fungal threat is lower.

Tricking the Brain: The Molecular Breakthrough

​The precise biological mechanism behind this burning sensation caused by capsaicin was a mystery until American physiologist David Julius made a groundbreaking discovery in the late 1990s. This achievement, for which he was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, revealed that mammalian nerve cells contain a specific heat-sensing receptor called TRPV1, which normally activates only at temperatures of 43°C (109°F) or higher. Julius proved that capsaicin binds directly to this exact receptor, triggering a structural shift that opens the ion channel and sends a false alarm of extreme heat to the brain. He also showed that birds have a slight mutation in their version of the TRPV1 receptor, rendering it insensitive to capsaicin and confirming the molecular basis of the bird-plant mutualism discovered in the field.

​Pain, Pleasure, and Medicine

​While the resulting physical reaction (sweating, watering eyes, and a racing pulse) feels intense, capsaicin causes no actual tissue damage. In response to the perceived pain, the brain releases dopamine and endorphins, producing a mild euphoria that explains why many people actively seek out increasingly spicy food. Repeated exposure depletes substance P, a neurotransmitter responsible for pain signaling, which is why capsaicin is also used therapeutically in creams and patches to alleviate chronic nerve pain.

Measuring the Heat

​Chili heat is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), a system developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. While modern laboratories use gas chromatography for objective measurements, the scale remains the standard benchmark:

  • Bell Pepper: 0 SHU (a natural mutation in the Pun1 gene prevents capsaicin synthesis)
  • ​Jalapeño: 2,500 to 8,000 SHU
  • ​Madame Jeanette: 150,000 to 300,000 SHU
  • ​Carolina Reaper: ~1.6 million SHU
  • ​Pepper X: 2.69 million SHU
  • ​Pure Capsaicin: 16,000,000 SHU

​A pepper’s baseline heat is determined genetically by complex biosynthetic pathways starting from the amino acid phenylalanine. However, growing conditions also play a notable role: subjecting a chili plant to controlled environmental stress triggers it to produce higher concentrations of capsaicin as a protective response.

​Global Domination

​Indigenous to the Americas for at least 10,000 years across five domesticated Capsicum species, chilies spread worldwide after Spanish and Portuguese explorers introduced them to Europe, Africa, and Asia at the end of the 15th century. They integrated quickly into cuisines already rich in traditional spices like ginger, mustard, and black peppercorns.
​In an ironic evolutionary twist, the very chemical designed to repel predators has ensured the chili pepper’s global cultivation and survival.

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​Fun Facts About Solar Eclipses

Solar Eclipse

A solar eclipse is one of nature’s most awe-inspiring sights. It occurs when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun, blocking all or part of the Sun’s light. Depending on the alignment and distance between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun, an eclipse can be total, partial, or annular (where a brilliant “ring of fire” remains visible around the dark lunar disk).

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun's bright face, briefly plunging the landscape into mid-day darkness and revealing the Sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona.

During a total solar eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun’s bright face, briefly plunging the landscape into mid-day darkness and revealing the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona.

Today, August 12, the total solar eclipse will be visible in Europe (Northern Spain, Iceland, and the extreme northeast of Portugal), as well as in Greenland and the Arctic region of Russia. A partial eclipse is visible across the rest of Europe (including the Netherlands and Belgium), North America (including Canada and the US), and Northwest Africa.

​Fun Facts About Solar Eclipses

A Cosmic Coincidence: The Sun is approximately 400 times wider than the Moon, but it is also roughly 400 times farther away from Earth. Because of this rare spatial ratio, both objects appear almost identical in size when viewed from Earth’s surface, making total eclipses possible.


​Super-Fast Shadows: The Moon’s shadow moves across Earth’s surface at extreme speeds, ranging from 1,700 kilometers per hour (1,000 mph) up to over 8,000 kilometers per hour (5,000 mph) near the poles.


​Sudden Temperature Drops: When totality occurs, the sudden loss of sunlight causes ambient temperatures to drop rapidly, typically by 5 to 8 degrees Celsius (10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit).


​Confused Wildlife: As darkness falls during the day, animals often get fooled into thinking night has arrived. Songbirds stop singing, nocturnal creatures wake up, and bees return to their hives.


​Baily’s Beads & The Diamond Ring: Right before totality begins or ends, sunlight shines through the valleys and mountains along the edge of the Moon. This creates bright points of light called Baily’s Beads. When only one single point of light remains, it creates a striking image that resembles a diamond ring.


​They Will Eventually Stop: The Moon is drifting away from Earth at a rate of roughly 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year. In about 600 million years, the Moon will be too far away to fully cover the Sun, meaning total solar eclipses will eventually cease to exist.

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Unprecedented Wildfires Ravage Europe

Wildfires in Europe 2026

Wildfires Across Europe. In a summer plagued by extreme drought and unrelenting heat, more European land has been consumed by fire than ever before recorded.

With no end in sight, the data reveals the full extent of the devastation.

Wildfires in Europe 2026

Record-Breaking Devastation

Copernicus data shows that aside from parts of Scandinavia and the Baltic states, virtually no region in Europe has escaped the flames. By mid-July, the fires set a grim milestone: never in recorded history has so much European land burned in a single year.

435,000 hectares of land burned across Europe in the first seven months of 2026.

172,000 hectares was the previous twenty-year average for the same period (January through July).

Regional Impact and High-Intensity Zones

NASA satellite data analyzing thermal radiation reveals that the highest intensity fires (measured in Fire Radiative Power) are currently concentrated in:

Greece: Attica region

Portugal: Northern territory (Porto and Guarda)

Spain: Valencia, Madrid, and Castile and León

France: Bordeaux / Aquitaine region

Turkey: Aydın Province

In France, more than 90,000 hectares have burned, marking the highest figure on record for the country. Spain has seen over 219,000 hectares destroyed, approaching the historic peaks set in 2024 and 2025.

While the relative damage in Portugal and Greece appears lower in absolute acreage, severe fires broke out in regions such as Crete, resulting in several casualties. Proportional to its land area, Portugal has seen higher burn rates than France or Spain, though local authorities possess extensive experience managing and combating forest fires.

Climate Analysis and Projections

Dr. Clair Barnes, a statistician and extreme weather climate researcher at Imperial College London, highlighted the compounding risks:

“And it is still early in the season. With another heatwave looming, these findings are extremely alarming. We are seeing time and again how climate change creates the hot, dry, and highly flammable conditions that fuel these wildfires.”

Recent analysis by the World Weather Attribution consortium indicates that global warming has made hot, dry, and windy conditions twenty times more likely in Spain and twice as likely in France compared to pre-industrial levels.

Where will this end?

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1816: The Year Europe’s Summer Vanished

Weymouth-Bay-1816-John-Constable

As 21st century summers across Europe continue to break heat records, memories of cooler seasons are steadily fading into history. Today, unusual warmth dominates the climate conversation, but two centuries ago, Europeans faced the exact opposite fear: a summer that seemed as if it would never arrive.

To find a season where the total absence of warmth gripped entire populations in dread, one must go back to 1816, a year recorded across the continent as the “Year Without a Summer.”

Weymouth-Bay-1816-John-Constable
On his honeymoon in 1816, the British painter John Constable (1776-1837) made this painting of Weymouth Bay.

​Dark Skies and Widespread Fear

​Unseasonable cold, persistent gloom, and endless rain caused widespread alarm throughout Europe, leading many to fear that the end of days was near. Special church services were organized across various countries to pray for an end to the dismal weather.

​The crisis struck a continent already struggling in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Failed harvests quickly caused severe famines. Draft horses died of hunger or were consumed for food, a scarcity that historians often link to early conceptual work on personal transport alternatives, such as the bicycle.

​The ominous atmosphere also left a permanent mark on literature. Trapped indoors near Lake Geneva by dark skies and relentless rain, a group of prominent English writers passed the time by telling ghost stories. That gloomy gathering inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, while John William Polidori produced The Vampyre and Lord Byron composed his poem Darkness.

​A Distant Volcanic Cause

​At the time, nobody understood why the sun failed to warm the continent. The true cause was only established much later: the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in the Indonesian archipelago in April 1815. It was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, sending colossal amounts of volcanic ash into the upper atmosphere and blocking sunlight around the globe.

​Remarkably, some contemporary observers came astonishingly close to guessing the truth. Reports published in European newspapers during July 1816 speculated whether the abnormal weather troubling the continent might be caused by an extraordinary natural shock or a major volcanic eruption in a distant part of the world.

​While fear of climate extremes remains a pressing concern today, the crisis of 1816 eventually passed. By 1826, summer warmth had returned to Europe, leaving the “Year Without a Summer” as an extraordinary moment in the continent’s history.

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Why Rome Never Truly Fell in 476 AD

odoacer capturing rome

Reflecting on history often becomes vivid when visiting the places where it unfolded. Having recently spent two weeks in Sardinia, the continuity of the past feels particularly close.

odoacer capturing rome

Interestingly, when Rome annexed the island in 238 BC, it marked the beginning of nearly seven centuries of uninterrupted Roman presence, a profound integration that explains why the modern Sardinian language remains grammatically and phonetically closer to classical Latin than almost any other Romance language.

This deep structural resilience mirrors the broader reality of the Western Roman Empire’s final years, where the collapse is frequently framed in modern narratives as a sudden, cataclysmic rupture, though the reality for the people living through it was entirely different.

​The famous date of September 4, 476 AD, when Romulus Augustulus surrendered his crown to Odoacer, was by no means recorded by contemporaries as the official end of an empire.

The vast majority of Romans living in Italy, Gaul, Spain, or North Africa continued their daily routines without noticing any dramatic shifts in governance, law, or material conditions. The exact same Roman legal codes remained active, the same roads carried the same merchant traffic, and the existing administrative systems collected taxes and settled legal disputes just as they had before. The only real difference was that Germanic leaders now commanded these structures instead of a Roman emperor.

​Traditional political institutions also proved remarkably resilient. The Roman Senate continued its sessions for decades after 476 AD. Furthermore, the office of the Roman consul, the highest civilian magistracy dating back to the early Republic, was appointed annually until 534 AD, nearly sixty years after the conventional date of Rome’s fall. Roman administrative titles, legal terminology, and cultural practices persisted across the former Western territories for generations.

​What actually concluded in 476 AD was merely the specific political office of a Western Roman emperor. This role had already been increasingly nominal, heavily contested, and entirely dependent on military backing for decades. Odoacer simply decided to stop maintaining the fiction of a civilian emperor ruling above him.

​The concept of 476 AD as the definitive fall of Rome was largely constructed by later historians. Most notably, the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon popularized this narrative in his monumental work, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” He selected this specific date as a convenient watershed moment in a massive transformative process that had already been unfolding for centuries, and would continue to do so for centuries to come.

​Ultimately, what most Romans experienced in 476 AD was not a sudden collapse, but a continuation. It was a gradual evolution that, over multiple generations, would eventually alter society enough for future historians to look back and use the word “ended.”

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Russian Economy in ‘Endstage’, Risk of Total Collapse Threatens

The Russian economy has entered an ‘endstage’, according to economists in a report published by the German Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The authors warn that ‘an economic collapse of Russia’ is a distinct possibility.

Russian Economy is Collapsing
Economic collapse of Russia?

Earlier in May, the Russian central bank adjusted its outlook, projecting a 0.5% contraction of the economy rather than the previously anticipated 1.6% growth. According to the report, even this revised forecast is likely ‘too optimistic’, raising further doubts regarding the accuracy of official data.

Growth is now confined strictly to the Russian defense sector, while the civilian economy stagnates. The report notes that Russian foreign trade volumes have hit a 15-year low, and fixed asset investments have ground to a near-total standstill.
​
​High inflation leaves the Russian central bank with virtually no room to lower interest rates, which currently stand at 14.5%. Furthermore, Russia’s financial reserves are largely depleted. At the outbreak of the war, the National Wealth Fund held reserves equivalent to roughly 6.5% of gross domestic product (GDP). These reserves have now dwindled to 1.8% of GDP.

Oil

Following Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, Russian oil production dropped to a one-year low in May. Over the past month, Ukraine launched at least 31 attacks targeting refineries and pipelines inside Russia. A monthly report from the oil cartel OPEC indicates that Russia produced an average of just over 9 million barrels of crude oil per day in May.

As a result of these attacks, Russian oil processing volume has dropped in June to its lowest level in two decades, according to estimates by analysts at the consultancy firm Energy Aspects.

​The report reveals that higher oil prices driven by conflicts in the Middle East offer only temporary relief to the state budget, as export volumes have fallen significantly. Nevertheless, revenue from oil and gas exports remains ‘by far the most critical variable’ funding the war machine. Consequently, the economists call for stricter enforcement of sanctions and the introduction of a special import duty on remaining trade with Russia, with the proceeds used to support Ukraine.

Dependence on China

​A key point highlighted in the report is Russia’s growing dependence on China. The economists describe this relationship as increasingly lopsided: China purchases Russian raw materials at a discount, while Russia buys Chinese goods at premium prices. Report co-author Alicia García-Herrero notes that while Moscow has received an ‘economic lifeline’, China is the one dictating ‘the terms of the relationship’. Although trade with China enables Russia to sustain its war economy, it leaves Moscow more vulnerable in the long term due to restricted economic autonomy.

Russian Regions

The report notes that many poorer Russian regions have benefited from increased defense spending, narrowing the income and wage gap within the country. High salaries offered to military recruits also contribute to this trend.

Earlier this month, data showed that Russian regions are collectively facing record deficits this year due to the war. According to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the deficit this year will rise by 400 billion rubles ($5.3 billion) compared to last year. An increasing number of Russian regions are heading toward financial shortfalls. While 49 provinces recorded a deficit last year, 73 regions are expected to be in the red this year, the finance minister reported. Siluanov acknowledged the severity of the situation, noting that regional deficits typically total between 200 and 300 billion rubles.

Last year, the total reached 1,500 billion rubles, and at least another 400 billion will be added this year, pushing the final figure close to 2,000 billion rubles.

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European Technological Sovereignty Package: EU Can Still Win the Battle for AI Adoption

European Technological Sovereignty Package

Today, Brussels presented the European Technological Sovereignty Package, a comprehensive collection of measures. In some areas, it focuses on updating existing legislation.

Europe intends to remain an open economy and avoid protectionism, emphasized European Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty Henna Virkkunen. “But it must also be able to make its own choices.” Currently, that is not happening enough because more than 80 percent of the digital products and services used in Europe are purchased from outside the EU. This is the result of decades of choices, she noted, which caused Europe to “consume more than it produces.”

European Technological Sovereignty Package

Key Highlights of the Package

It is too late for Europe to become a global leader in AI development. That ship has sailed. However, the EU could still “win the battle for AI adoption and implementation,” according to the Commission. In terms of applying AI, businesses and citizens in the US and the EU barely differ. In fact, some European countries, such as Sweden, are further ahead than America.

The same reasoning applies to chips and semiconductors. Europe traditionally possesses a strong industrial base. The Commission believes this base must recover and strengthen by utilizing more AI and chips. To achieve this, greater security of supply is required. Several measures aimed at strengthening the sector and increasing Europe’s market share in semiconductor production will be included in an updated law, the Chips Act 2.

There is a strong desire to prevent “Nexperia scenarios.” This means preventing supply disruptions of small chips from disrupting the European automotive industry. European companies should always have at least two suppliers available from which to source crucial components.

All Europeans must transition to smart energy meters to help conserve energy. The European Commission is making it easier to share energy consumption data within Europe.

Data center capacity in Europe needs to triple over the next five to seven years. Every country should designate areas for data centers because the demand for computing power is growing much faster than the supply in Europe. If this remains unchanged, dependency on non-European cloud service providers will continue to increase. It is an illusion to think that you can continue to digitalize without building data centers, Commissioner Virkkunen stated. “Using a smartphone without a data center is like putting your phone on airplane mode.”

There will be no “Buy European” mandate for IT services in the European Union. However, when issuing public tenders, governments will be required to consider whether their purchases provide “added value for Europe.” This criterion can apply to all areas, ranging from investments and jobs to access to rare technology.

The Commission has established a four-tier sovereignty scale for cloud services. For a small portion of the most sensitive government data, such as judicial evidence and sensitive defense data, only tier-four services may be used. These will exclusively be European providers. Non-European providers may be hired for tier-three data traffic and management following an assessment by the European Commission. This will be extremely difficult for US companies, Virkkunen noted. According to Commission sources, approximately 70 percent of government work falls into “tier 1.” This implies that, in practice, little will need to change regarding the use of US cloud services by governments.

The European Commission wants to provide extra incentives for prototype development. Currently, a significant amount of EU funding goes toward research. However, when companies want to develop products based on that research to capture markets, they often move to the US in search of investors. The playing field for these startups and scale-ups should change by allocating EU funds differently, focusing more heavily on product development.

The European Commission wants to enable EU member states to share data center capacity without undergoing procurement procedures. This would allow them, for example, to back up sensitive government data in a neighboring country and vice versa. The term being used for this concept is “digital embassies.”