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Now entering European summer mode and will be back here in three weeks. Enjoy your summer everyone!

Days like today really show the differences between bluesky and X. Checking on X, everyone, even the moderate voices I still follow there are talking about Ceuta and a new 'migration crisis'. Here, very little discussion even amongst those posting on EU politics.

Well, this is quite something: All 55 UEFA member associations threaten to boycott the next FIFA World Cup if Infantinos plans go through. This seem like the biggest European revolt against something Trump connected so far:

Fifa World Cup: Uefa to boycott tournament if Gianni Infantino's investment plans go throughUefa will boycott Fifa's tournaments if investment proposals from world football's governing body president Gianni Infantino go through.www.bbc.com

The real problem is, though, that much of LinkedIn sounded like AI slop well before the current gen ai was invented.

Andy Burnham definitely has managed a much better start than Keir Starmer. It has been a long while since the UK public actually had a favourable view of their PM. Also note the downfall of Farage, who seems to be really hurt by his scandals:

As Andy Burnham today makes his first major defence announcement, on the nuclear deterrent, really noteworthy that for him defence always has a domestic element: After 'keeping the country safe', the main benefit he stresses are the jobs + apprenticeships being created to 'reindustrialise Britain'

Oh no, how horrible! 'Once' and its music is very special for me, and this is quite a shock. Rest in Peace, Glen!

Very good update on how the PiS split is impacting the EU level - Morawiecki has now officially withdrawn as ECR President, but the FdI will only take over until a succession from within the PiS is elected as ECR President.

One continuous feature of EU-UK relations since Brexit is that the combination of Brussels' August and UK party conference season in September/October have pushed back important meetings. As a UK outsider, in practice though the party conferences never justified to me long postponements.

Very telling research on the rise of self-published books with substantial AI text - which on their own earn less than 'regular' books, but together seem to earn their 'authors' substantial and are thus crowding out the market for others:

Oh no. Have to admit, the AI speak of 'it's not X, it's Y" is one that is triggering me strongly, and I have now seen it also creep into German political communication. One of the biggest 'this is AI' red flag at the moment.

Fun graph by the EU Commission on the length of summer holidays in the EU. To be frank, as a parent, even the six weeks in Germany feel long. How are parents supposed to bridge 14 weeks of summer holiday?

Two observations: First, good to see UK participation in the EU's €90bn loan to Ukraine finalised - unlike SAFE, this went smoothly, and enables both UK financial contribution and Ukraine purchases of UK military equipment counting as 'European':

The 'Burnham bounce' seems to be real, at least in short-term. This is the first poll lead for Labour at least for a year, and as far as I remember also the first time in more than a year Reform UK is not leading a UK poll.

Update on this by @eddywax.bsky.social: Looks like senior FdI MEP Fidanza will become interim president of the ECR, while three PiS MEPs have left the party with Morawiecki. It remains open whether they will also be pushed out of the ECR.

Today early voting starts in the referendum in Iceland on whether to resume EU accession talks, with full voting done on 29 August. I know very little about Iceland's politics, but all polls I have seen point to a very close result. (But hey, the 52-48 ratio has history in referenda on the EU):

Horrifying, but very vivid illustration of the 'kill zone' between Ukrainian and Russian forces amid many drones:

Inside Ukraine’s Kill ZoneDrones now dominate the war in Ukraine. Fly through the front line’s deadly “kill zone” and discover how surveillance, kamikaze drones and new tactics are reshaping modern warfare. An immersive Reuter...www.reuters.com

Might be my EU bubble, but the idea to make a public vote on the future Euro notes seems like an unexpected publicity win, including some meme-worthy contributions...

This will also have repercussions on the European level - Morawiecki, who has just been expelled, is the head of the European Conservative and Reformer (ECR) party, the party that brings together PiS, Meloni's FdI and other national conversatives across the EU.

This is new and completely wierd. To proof that I am not an AI, cloudflare now wants me to enter something in the terminal, of unknown origin. Sorry, no way.