Alexander Fanta

@alexfanta

Journalist with Follow the Money. All things tech, EU, transparency. FOI curious.

1.043 Folgt6.171 Follower559 Posts

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Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· May 11

News update: As our story published, xAI quietly changed its contact address again, to another office in Estonia. I'm taking bets on whether, this time, their "office" is for real.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Mar 22

Another day, another media outlet getting this wrong. No, the EU has not scrapped the combustion engine ban, at least not yet. It's an ongoing, highly contingent lawmaking process, not a fait accompli. And it's not a detail, either. Why do people not get that?

Politicians are unsure which way to turn. Last December, the European Commission scrapped a 2035 ban on selling new petrol or diesel cars. Instead, under pressure from Germany and Italy, it let manufacturers keep making cars with up to 10% of their current exhaust emissions past that date – in effect, a way to keep selling combustion engines.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Feb 23

This is Reuters footage of Tony Blair arriving at this year's Munich Security Conference.

Tony Blair walking into the Munich Security Conference, shot by Reuters

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Feb 16

News update: The EU announced that Commissioner Suica, who Tony Blair wanted to meet according to the document we obtained, has agreed to join the first meeting of the "Board of Peace". No sh*t. Their lobbying actually worked!

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Feb 16

Shilling for Trump in Brussels: A document we obtained shows how Tony Blair and his institute lobbied behind closed doors for the EU to join Trump's "Board of Peace" and put €€€ behind US- and Israeli-led Gaza reconstruction efforts. Published with Democracy for Sale, ht @lighthousereports.com

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Feb 2

Telegram has successfully avoided coming under direct supervision of the European Commission under the EU's Digital Services Act. The "poor man's dark web" remains unregulated, for now. From our latest newsletter: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Telegram escapes stricter EU rules – for now

Telegram has managed to dodge direct supervision by the Commission under the EU’s landmark tech law, the Digital Services Act (DSA) – at least for now.

As we recently reported, the Dubai-based messaging app has played down its user figures to Belgian and European regulators to avoid being classified as a “very large online platform”. Crossing the DSA’s 45-million-user threshold would trigger stricter obligations, including tougher action against illicit content and a significant expansion of moderation.

Last week, the Commission announced that Telegram’s rival WhatsApp would be placed under its scrutiny. But that day is yet to come for Telegram itself.

“At this moment, the Commission does not have information suggesting that the number of average monthly active recipients of Telegram in the EU, for the part of the service that falls within the definition of an online platform, is above the threshold of 45 million,” a Commission official told Follow the Money.

Alexander Fanta

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Jan 26

Reactions on X to the EU's investigation into Grok are unfunny and disgusting. Why is the Commission still on that platform?

Commissioner Henna Virkkunen announcing investigation into X's Grok chatbot. A user posts "@grok put her in bikini" under Virkunnen's post

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Jan 7

Harald Mahrer ist nicht mehr WKÖ-Präsident, aber immer noch Ehrenprofessor. Für die Verleihung der Professorenwürde beruft sich das Ministerium auf ein Gutachten, dass es aber nicht herausgeben will. Es sagt aber, dass Mahrer sich den Titel durch seine "publizistische Tätigkeit" verdient habe...

Durch das damalige Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung (BMBWF) wurde ein/e Universitätsprofessor/in aus dem Fachgebiet Wirtschaftswissenschaften mit Schwerpunkt Produktionsmanagement befasst.
Das Gutachten hat das Erfüllen der oben benannten Kriterien durch mehr als 15- jähriges insbesondere publizistisches Wirken des Genannten bestätigt. Dieser hat in seinen vielfältigen öffentlichen und politischen Funktionen, zuletzt unter anderem als Präsident der Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKÖ), maßgeblichen schöpferischen Einfluss auf
wesentliche Themen der österreichischen Wirtschaftsentwicklung und deren wissenschaftliches Fundament. Eine Vielzahl von Vorträgen, Konferenzteilnahmen etc. belegen zudem lehrendes Wirken.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Dec 22

It's Ursula's texts once again. 🤳 The EU's official watchdog is investigating a text message sent by French president Emmanuel Macron to the commission president last year. Guess what, it just... disappeared. Some news that could spell trouble for the commission. 🧵

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Dec 17

Tür 17 im Deregulierungs-Adventkalender

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Dec 15

Bringing the disruption to Brussels: The European Commission encourages its managers to draft policy-making documents with AI, including "explaining/summarising legislative initiatives". According to a newly released Commission document, this will "boost your team's productivity". 🫢

AI Guide for Managers – adopting and integrating AI in your work
2
I. Identifying work processes for AI integration
AI is a welcome opportunity for Commission staff to become more effective and efficient in daily work processes,
including new services that would not have been possible up to now. In encouraging its use, AI must be an
instrument of support for staff and for human-centric policy making.
Encourage active participation from your staff . Their involvement is essential in
accurately identifying the specific needs that AI can support meeting (also see II)).
High-Impact Areas for AI Utilisation
You may already have a concrete use case – get in touch with the to take it
forward. Or you are starting from scratch – check out the below table for concrete help:
Work Process AI Benefits Tools/Applications
Elaborating
Briefings
Faster, comprehensive first drafts of briefings (possibility to use
SNC* data)
First drafts of
documents
Faster first drafts (time-saving), AI tool as
sparring partner for generating and checking
ideas
(possibility to use
SNC* data)
Brainstorming/
analysis
Faster brainstorming (time-saving), AI tool as
sparring partner for generating and checking
ideas
(possibility to use
SNC* data)
Minutes
(Transcription)
Accurate, time-saving transcription AI transcription tools (e.g.
)
Preparing
Background Notes
Efficient generation of speaking points e.g.
(possibility to use SNC* data)
Summaries Quick, accurate summaries Summarisation tools (e.g.
)
(possibility to use SNC* data)
Policymaking Early-stage brainstorming for identifying/
substantiating potential policy problems;
Explaining/summarising legislative initiatives;
Analysing/summarising consultation activities
(possibility to use
SNC* data)
*SNC: sensitive, non-classified data

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Dec 15

How Telegram has avoided strict regulation by the EU From our latest newsletter: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

The maths behind Telegram’s EU regulatory escape

Telegram, the popular messaging app, has become a headache for European regulators.

It has done little to curb illegal content in its group chats, including large drug trading channels. Concerns over Telegram’s lawlessness led to the arrest of CEO Pavel Durov in Paris last year and reportedly triggered discussions in Brussels about placing the company under direct supervision of the Digital Services Act (DSA), at the risk of huge fines. The Commission used those same powers against Elon Musk’s X just days ago.

Despite boasting one billion users globally, Telegram insists it does not meet the 45-million-user threshold that would bring it under direct EU oversight.

The company does not publish user figures and ignored our questions about how it counts them. Telegram argues that it doesn’t fully meet the DSA’s definition of an online platform, meaning not all EU users count towards the threshold.

For now, Brussels accepts this interpretation. A Commission spokesperson told us that they do not believe that “Telegram’s features that could be considered online platforms are above the threshold of 45 million”.

Telegram therefore remains supervised only by Belgium’s telecoms regulator, which warns it could soon be overwhelmed by complaints.

So for now, Telegram - the internet’s enfant terrible - remains loosely regulated in the EU.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Nov 5

Orban allies have bough Hungary's most read paper. The reason that is possible is because the EU failed to legislate against media concentration. Here is the inside story into the EU's historical blunder: www.ftm.eu/articles/hel...

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Nov 5

Opposition to the city as a political space has been a staple of US conservatism for decades. Consider this diatribe by leading neoconservative Irving Kristol (father to prominent never-Trumper @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social)

sowohl soziologischer als auch intellektueller Natur. Der zentrale Begriff zum Verständnisseiner soziologischen Konzeption der USA ist der des „Bourgeois“. Die Gründerväterhätten eine „anti-urbane Philosophie“ gehabt, schreibt Kristol (Kristol 1972: 3). Diesebeinhalte ein Verständnis von „republican morality“ und „civic virtue“, definiert als„Bereitschaft der guten demokratischen Bürger, in besonderen Momenten ihre normaleKondition der Verfolgung von Eigeninteressen aufzugeben“ und sich dem Streben nachdem „Gemeinwohl“ zu verschreiben (ebd.: 4).„Now, given these ideas on how popular government in America could survive andprosper, it is only natural that the founding fathers should have taken a suspiciousview of big cities an should have wondered whether, in the end, they could becompatible with a free and popular government. [...] The entire literature of classicalpolitical philosophy – from Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero on to Montesquieu – exhibits asimilar skepticism (Kristol 1972: 4f.).Die Gründerväter sind nach Kristol der festen Überzeugung gewesen, dass nur kleineStädte eine wahrhaft demokratische Ordnung haben können (vgl. ebd.). Der Mob dergrößeren Städte wäre zu „entwurzelt“ von der traditionellen religiösen, politischen undmoralischen Ordnung, um einen Charakter als demokratische Bürger entwickeln zukönnen (vgl. ebd.: 14).„This population [...], in its political dependency, could be exploited by unscrupulousprofiteers; it was a population which, in its political isolation, could be exploited byzealous demagogues; it was a population which, in its moral bewilderment, could beexploited by wild mystagogues; it was a population whose potential did not gobeyond riotous destructiveness [...] It was because the founding fathers did not seehow such a population could be capable of self-government that they took so dim aview of large cities (Kristol 1972: 14f.).

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Oct 29

One top official told his staff explicitly not to write down too much, and to destroy handwritten notes after. But no public administration can function without records of important meetings. I suspect the Commission has simply created a new type of doc it pretends does not fall under FOI.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Oct 14

Funny, when I open the page its still Mariusz Daca, who has been in this position for a few years.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Oct 13

The European Commission launched a new AI strategy last week. But it barely mentioned the huge amount of energy gobbled up by AI, and the devastating environmental fallout. Find this in our latest newsletter: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

AI’s power problem? Brussels isn’t losing sleep

The AI fever gripping financial markets has delayed the phase-out of coal plants in the U.S. and is sparking fresh investment in nuclear energy. Yet, despite rising concerns over AI’s carbon footprint, the new European Commission push to “Apply AI” appears unworried about the technology’s soaring energy demands. Instead, the new report urges the energy sector to adopt AI to optimise energy grids and storage, while offering only a cursory nod to the rapid rise in energy consumption the technology is expected to bring.

Its only tangible commitment? Hidden deep in an annex: a plan to ask companies to report AI-related energy consumption under a common standard. But even that’s not expected until late next year – while Big Tech’s servers, and the coal plants feeding them, keep burning.

Alexander Fanta

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Oct 8

Is an MEP accused of bribery surprisingly wealthy, or up to the neck in debt? That would seem like a salient data point. But guess what, judicial investigators aren't even checking. Some depressing news from our Crime & Corruption newsletter: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Follow the Money? Not in Huaweigate, where MEPs’ assets go unchecked

Belgian investigators tasked with probing corruption allegations against Chinese telco giant Huawei aren’t really interested in checking asset declarations made by EU lawmakers accused of accepting bribes, Follow the Money has learned.

Earlier this year, Belgian police raided multiple locations in a probe that implicated senior Huawei lobbyists and several members of the European Parliament. Prosecutors have since asked Parliament to lift the immunity of four MEPs, with several others reportedly on their radar.

Yet, despite the probe’s focus on whether MEPs took bribes, investigators appear to show little appetite for scrutinising their financial situation.

Under a little-known change to the Parliament’s code of conduct, MEPs have to, since last year, submit a declaration of their private assets – including real estate worth more than €5,000, stockholdings, non-EU bank accounts as well as any debts – to president Roberta Metsola.

Judicial authorities can request these declarations for any of the 720 sitting or former MEPs. Yet, as Parliament told Follow the Money in response to an access request, not a single one has ever been asked for.

Why did Belgian investigators choose not to, erm, follow the money? “We are aware that declarations of assets are kept by the chairperson,” a spokesperson for the Belgian public prosecutor told FTM. “However, we cannot comment further on this matter.” We should have seen that coming.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Oct 6

An dem Auftritt gab es damals breite Kritik, einerseits weil die IV der Brexit-Huldigung Johnsons eine Bühne bot, andererseits weil Johnson für hohe Honorare bekannt ist. Nun wissen wir, wie viel sich die IV das hat kosten lassen.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Oct 6

Money well-spent? Die Industriellenvereinigung hat Boris Johnson voriges Jahr 50.000 Euro plus bis zu 25.000 Euro an Reisekosten für seinen umstrittenen Auftritt beim Salzburg Summit angeboten, wie aus geleakten Emails hervorgeht. Die Mail stammt aus dem Boris-Files-Leak...

We have a new firm invitation for Mr. Johnson which is outlined below. We are working on a vet of this group and will pass it along once available. Here are the details:

Host: Rosam Grünberger Jarosch & Partner OBO Federation of Austrian Industries

*Please note, our main point of contact is Rosam Grunberger Jarosch & Partner, who are producing and managing the event on behalf of Verein Club Salzburg Summit, an entity owned by the Federation of Austrian Industries. To confirm, Verein Club Salzburg Summit, and by extension the Federation of Austrian Industries, will be the contracting and paying entity for Mr Johnson’s participation.
Event Date: Friday, July 26, 2024

Alternate Dates: None

Location: Salzburg, Austria

Venue: Salzburg Congress Convention Centre

Honorarium and Travel Expenses: $53,743 [€50,000]. In addition to the Fee, the host will pay for first-class airfare to and from the event city for Speaker and up to one (1) staff member, as well as hotel accommodations, ground transportation, meals and incidentals.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Sep 15

Our latest on the Huaweigata saga, and OLAF's failure to act years ago

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Sep 10

I appreciate the candor

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Sep 1

As early as 2020, per the Commission's internal policy, von der Leyen would have used the most high-end iPhone with a storage of 256. The equivalent today, an iPhone 16 Max Pro would hold up to 1 terabyte. The idea there is a pressing need to "save space" is ridiculous.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Sep 1

The Commission also handed over internal guidelines to @ftm.eu, according to which all staff are advised to use Signal and activate auto-deleted. Which means it will be near-impossible to ever obtain any text from an official, a commissioner or indeed the president.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Sep 1

Only after the Pfizergate ruling did I get something like a meaningful response. In its reply, the Commission admits it allowed the message to be deleted after I had asked for it. VDL's chief of staff Björn Seibert reviewed the message, but claimed it was just repeating a known French position.

3
9. The ‘checklist to make your Signal safer’ of 8 July 20228 issued by the competent
Commission service recommends activating the ‘disappearing messages’ feature present
in ‘Signal’ to prevent possible major data leaks. The President had activated this feature
to comply with those rules. This explains why no documents corresponding to the
description given in your request can be found in the mobile phone currently in use by
the President of the Commission.
10. The head of cabinet of the President of the Commission recalls that the President of the
Commission received a message via the text messaging application ‘Signal’ from Mr.
Macron on 28 or 29 January 2024. The President of the Commission and her head of
cabinet discussed this message shortly after it had been received. They considered that
this message reiterated a well-established position already communicated by France to
the Commission in the past in Council formations9 and also publicly made well-known10.
As is usual, and in line with the duty of loyal cooperation, the Commission had taken that
position duly into account when continuing work on the relevant file. Under these
circumstances, the text message at stake had no particular administrative or legal effect
for the Commission, as the position was well-known to the Commission and to the
public. As a result, there was no obligation to register that text message pursuant to
Article 7(1) of Decision (EU) 2021/2121, in light of Article 5(2) letter a) of the Detailed
Rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. Hence, the text message at
stake was not registered as document in the records management system of the
Commission and could not be found in this system.
11. On the basis of the explanations given above, the Secretariat-General concludes that the
Commission does not hold any document corresponding to the description given in your
request.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Aug 23

Not sure how Thierry Breton is gonna take this

Still from "Mountainhead" - "I'm getting messaged to ask if you know that the EU is going to block you"

"Is France gonna send their top tech guys to come for me,"

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Aug 11

Bemerkenswert, dass ausgerechnet der Assistent eines SPÖ-Abgeordneten im EU-Parlament rechte Narrative bedient und Antifa-Aktivisten vom Peršmanhof "Interesse an einer Eskalation" attestiert. Aus der heutigen Kleinen Zeitung.

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Aug 1

Now, in a new reply written by the Commission after the court said its previous response was insufficient, it's Secretary General admits that von der Leyen’s chief of staff Björn Seibert reviewed the messages "in the summer of 2021", but decided against retaining them. Weeks earlier,...

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Jul 24

71 days since the Pfizergate ruling, the European Commission has come forward with a more detailed explanation regarding its text messages policy. (Still no reply to the NYT on the actual texts, though.) The reply says, in a nutshell,...

Alexander Fanta@alexfanta· Jul 3

Another gem from today's @ftm.eu piece about alleged corruption in Huawei's Brussels lobby shop. The person leading the companies outreach to the European Parliament told colleagues in 2021 that his dad had died. Except that wasn't true. Full story (free to read today): www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...