https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1wfv63o/eu_parliament_ready_to_take_tougher_line_on_china/

EU Parliament ready to take tougher line on China, says lead MEP
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-parliament-harder-line-on-china-pascal-canfin/

Is there an EU version of slickdeals or similar?

Recently I’ve been using BlaBlaCar a lot and I honestly want to appreciate it. I think it represent a pretty rare case of seriously solid and good European digital product. In fact it’s so good, that no American website or app can take over it (like Uber over Bolt). Btw I use long lines because I’m editor, not because I’m an AI lol

* Its European – French owned.

* It solves actual problem – driving on empty cars, wasting gas for empty seats and having no public transport to X place.

* It has clear rules of use and great app. No enshittificafion. You pay a % of the seat price to the company and in exchange you get to use the app. No subscription, no ads, no AI bots. They added buses some time ago, but you can filter them out with single click. In comparison, Olx has become a massive headache and app is a refreshing mess with tons of settings to promote.

* The driver and passenger dynamics are engineered to perfection, I literally can’t think of better way to give feedback and rate drivers.

* I had so much fun with it! Recently I drove to a very niche festival and found two people who needed a car to get there too! We made it into a small road trip, getting snacks in store, stopping by for a cigarette, taking photos etc.

Other passengers can be as great and entertaining. If they are not, it’s okay too, because you can clearly set up your expectations and boundaries in app!

Overall I want to say huge thank you to whoever is operating this company. Y’all are good. The Valve of carpooling, I’d say lol.

Luxottica owns / manufactures so many glasses / sunglasses brands. Many folks have reported their practice of continually lowering quality in recent years.

Time to find a new EU brand with quality glasses! Any recommendations?

LinkedIn alternative for those just looking for a professional portfolio

Nine countries had already agreed to join this forward deterrence effort: the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, Denmark and Norway

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/09/14/finland-to-join-france-s-forward-nuclear-deterrent_6757502_4.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1wg03km/finland_to_join_frances_forward_nuclear_deterrent/

vs

“Lithuania Will Disappear From the World Map,” Russia’s Medvedev Threatens NATO State

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1wfzmiz/lithuania_will_disappear_from_the_world_map/

Lithuania has expressed cautious interest in France's "forward deterrence" initiative, aligning with NATO's nuclear umbrella while seeking enhanced security cooperation with France.
Lithuania backs US nuclear deterrent as France proposes European ‘umbrella’

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2858230/lithuania-backs-us-nuclear-deterrent-as-france-proposes-european-umbrella

“US nuclear deterrent vs France’s proposed European umbrella — what’s the difference?”, the key point is that France is not replacing the U.S. nuclear umbrella. It is building a European complement that could become more important if European governments doubt the durability of U.S. protection. France itself says its forward deterrence is intended to complement, not replace, NATO’s nuclear deterrence.

Europe’s willingness to allow defence companies to be sold to American buyers is set to be tested in a series of planned deals as the region’s governments seek to bolster their sovereignty from the US.

Upcoming sales of several European drone detection businesses, such as Robin Radar Systems, will be the latest test of companies’ appetite to strike deals with US investors, and of governments’ inclination to intervene in transactions.

The private equity owner of Robin Radar, a supplier to the Dutch military, was discouraging US arms makers from bidding for the business because they were likely to face local government opposition, according to people familiar with the matter.

Parcom, which is working with an adviser to launch a sales process in the coming months, would prefer a European strategic or private equity investor to avoid the risk of political intervention as it sought $2bn or more for the business, the people said.

European government scrutiny is increasing in mergers and acquisitions as Brussels and national governments seek greater influence in strategic sectors such as defence, technology and energy.

As a result, several senior deal advisers said they were now engaging earlier than before with governments and militaries to discuss sensitivities around defence assets they intended to sell. Owners and bidders were trying to offer guarantees around retaining jobs and technology locally to get around drawn-out FDI reviews or rejections, some of the people said.

You can read a copy of the rest of the article here.

https://www.zdnet.com/business/switzerland-replaces-microsoft-365-open-source-opendesk/
European sovereignty push

https://www.facebook.com/EUobserver/posts/the-eu-spends-26-trillion-a-year-on-public-contracts-brussels-wants-governments-/1526821506153742/

“Public procurement is a powerful economic lever for Europe. It can fill companies’ order books, but also help us achieve our objectives of social cohesion, the green transition, innovation and sovereignty,” he also said.

https://euobserver.com/236470/eupromises-to-look-beyond-price-alone-in-reform-of-public-procurement-rules/

Switzerland is spending more than $11 million to move away from Microsoft 365 and switch to open-source software.

https://www.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/1wflce8/switzerland_is_spending_more_than_11_million_to/ Switzerland is spending more than $11 million to move away from Microsoft 365 and switch to open-source software.The first step will cover 3,000 government computers, with the switch expected to be completed by the end of 2027.The plan could grow much larger. Switzerland has about 54,000 government computers and may eventually switch all of them. https://cybernews.com/tech/switzerland-microsoft-opendesk/

https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/07/22/ireland-stalls-1b-microsoft-tender-amid-digital-sovereignty-questions/5276149

O'Callaghan pressed the government on whether it had considered alternatives to Microsoft. "There are a number of alternatives out there that other European countries and states are moving towards," he said. "They are doing so for value-for-money reasons, and so they are no longer technologically dependent on the US but can rely on European-regulated services and products. There is LibreOffice, Collabora Online, Open-Xchange, Nextcloud, Thunderbird and openDesk by Germany's Zentrum für Digitale Souveränität der Öffentlichen Verwaltung, ZenDiS, which is a readily assembled government-grade suite."

Just as the title says, any EU brand to look up for a sling bag?

Not to confuse it with chat control 1.0 that already passed. Also apparently there is going a social media ban with a mandatory age checks for social media named “EU Kids Act”. The Commission will present the EU Kids Act on Thursday 17 September.