Crooked Bough News Round-up

— THE HACK: EU’s Cybersecurity Act 2 draws China’s ire

 

at 1/22/26 1:32am

In today's edition: Showtime for Knafo report, MEPs stab Democracy Shield

[Category: The Hack]

— HARVEST: Ten votes

 

at 1/22/26 1:27am

In today's edition: Mercosur, CAP reform, EU-US

[Category: CAP budget, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), EU-US, food chain, Harvest, Mercosur, Norbert Lins, Pesticides]

— VOLTAGE: Germany, Italy push for sweeping EU action on permitting delays

 

at 1/22/26 1:19am

In today's edition: Deregulating industry, boosting air passenger rights, ever greener electricity

[Category: VOLTAGE]

— UK upper house approves social media ban for under-16s

 

at 1/22/26 12:08am

"This vote begins the process of stopping the catastrophic harm that social media is inflicting on a generation", Conservative lawmaker John Nash said

[Category: Across Europe, John Nash, Keir Starmer, United Kingdom]

— Von der Leyen’s strategy goes south

 

at 1/21/26 11:17pm

In Thursday’s edition: Mercosur post-mortem, Trump steps back, EU competitiveness, migrant returns, Democracy Shield

[Category: Rapporteur]

— INTERVIEW: ‘Agriculture needs its own budget’, says CAP rapporteur Norbert Lins 

 

at 1/21/26 10:00pm

The German MEP rejects folding farm policy into broader EU spending plans

[Category: CAP budget, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), European Parliament, Norbert Lins]

— ‘Civilizational Erasure?’ The EU brings peace and prosperity 

 

at 1/21/26 10:00pm

Trump’s MAGA is undermining the free world and turning friends into enemies. But Poles, Estonians and other former subjects know that the alternatives to the EU look much, much worse

[Category: Donald Trump, EU-US]

— The growing stakes of Arctic security

 

at 1/21/26 10:00pm

The Arctic is at the center of Europe’s agenda after renewed US demands for "immediate negotiations" to take Greenland

[Category: Across Europe, Arctic, China, Denmark, European Commission, Greenland, High North, NATO, Russia, Tariffs, Trade, United States (USA), Ursula von der Leyen]

— Trump to unveil ‘Board of Peace’ at Davos after Greenland backtrack

 

at 1/21/26 9:35pm

The US president has invited leaders including Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu and Viktor Orbán to join

[Category: Davos, Donald Trump, Gaza, Greenland, Ukraine]

— New renewables overtook fossil fuels for the first time in 2025

 

at 1/21/26 8:30pm

Europe's electricity production is increasingly climate friendly, despite growing reliance on gas for back-up

[Category: Energy, Fossil Fuels, Renewables, Solar Power, Wind Power]

— Voluntary CMA tools will fail to address shortages, warns Belgian MEP [Advocacy Lab]

 

at 1/21/26 5:03pm

Lawmakers warn that without binding obligations and funding, the CMA risks falling short of delivering real security of supply across the EU

[Category: Belgium, CMA - Critical Medicines Act, EU Pharma Act, Pharmaceuticals]

— Rise of AI summaries risks weakening news brands, warns Reuters Institute [Advocacy Lab]

 

at 1/21/26 4:52pm

“All news looks the same,” says the Reuters Institute’s Nic Newman, with AI systems weakening the link between journalistic brands and accountability

[Category: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Content Creation, Journalism, Media & Audiovisual, News]

— Trump announces Greenland ‘framework,’ backing off force and tariffs

 

at 1/21/26 12:51pm

US president had earlier ruled out an invasion of the world's largest island

[Category: Denmark, Donald Trump, Greenland, NATO]

— EU poised to ram through Mercosur trade deal, despite official delay

 

at 1/21/26 11:13am

Legal loopholes could allow provisional application despite Parliament’s court challenge

— The Brief – He came, he mocked, he buckled

 

at 1/21/26 10:52am

If we filter out the bluster, Davos delivered a rare Trumpian climbdown. But Europe would be naive to assume that Trump is willing to just move on

[Category: Davos, Donald Trump]

— European Parliament calls for an operational EU mutual defence clause

 

at 1/21/26 10:48am

EU countries are increasingly worried that the United States will not defend Europe

[Category: Common security and defence policy (CSDP), Defence, European Parliament, NATO]

— Mercosur delay shatters von der Leyen’s grand geopolitical strategy

 

at 1/21/26 10:19am

“Other countries around the globe might think twice before doing agreements with the European Union,” says a senior EPP lawmaker

[Category: EU-Mercosur, Mercosur, Trade]

— Ryanair CEO uses spat with Musk to sell tickets, talk politics

 

at 1/21/26 9:43am

Michael O'Leary urges Europe to stand up Trump – while slamming online anonymity and EU environment policy

[Category: Aviation and Airlines, Elon Musk, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair, Transport]

— Philosopher Žižek calls for EU troops in Greenland

 

at 1/21/26 9:39am

The EU, however, has very limited military capacity

[Category: Denmark, Donald Trump, Greenland, Guy Verhofstadt, Joseph Borell, Raphaël Glucksmann, Slavoj Zizek, Tariffs, Trade, Troops]

— Parliament says Commission’s ‘Democracy Shield’ against disinformation too weak

 

at 1/21/26 9:16am

Russian interference and Big Tech pose ‘dangerous cocktail’, rapporteur warns

[Category: Democracy Shield, Digital Services Act (DSA), Helmut Brandstätter, Kim van Sparrentak, Platforms, Tomas Tobé]

— EU parliament unites against rollback of air passenger rights

 

at 1/21/26 8:15am

No end in sight to deadlock with capitals over baggage, compensation rights

[Category: Aviation and Airlines, Passenger rights, Transport]

As of 2/18/26 2:42pm. Last new 1/22/26 2:21am.