Hello and welcome to EURACTIV's EU Tweets of the Week.
Pandora Papers revelations hit their mark,
world panics as Facebook goes dark,
and not much happened in Brdo apart from the snark.
This week we are supported by the Coppieters Foundation
more about their awards later on.
Another week, another leak…
or to be more precise a massive investigation by international journalists
to discover the inner workings of a shadow economy
that benefits the wealthy and well-connected
at the expense of everyone else.
Yes indeed the Pandora Papers were front page news
and MEP Assistant reckons politicians were heartbroken
that something like this could even happen.
The news was particularly bad for Czech PM Andrej Babiš
as his secret wealth was revealed
just five days before the Czech parliamentary elections, reported Aneta Zachová.
Of course, Babiš denied any wrongdoing
and blamed the Czech mafia for the offshore data leak.
I have never done anything illegal or wrong,
but that does not prevent them from trying to denigrate me again
and influence the Czech parliamentary elections, he tweeted.
Martini Seltzermayr suggested his new election slogan should be
Yes, We Cannes!
After it was revealed he moved $22 million through offshore companies
to buy a lavish estate in France.
This week we are supported by the Coppieters Foundation,
a think tank focusing on European affairs.
Next week their Coppieters Awards ceremony will honour
Jill Rhondda and Nelly Maes.
Stay tuned using the hashtag #CoppietersAwards21!
It’s worth noting that the Pandora Papers
were overshadowed by another event this week…
Yup, the world came crashing to a halt
as Facebook and its associated services went dark for several hours.
With #FacebookDown trending on Twitter,
Max Schrems – the man who took on the social network over privacy violations –
snarked: “Hey, for the first time in years they seem to be GDPR compliant.
I think there would be less extreme ways to do it, but won't complain.”
Commission VP Margrethe Vestager said the outage tells us two things:
1, we need alternatives & choices in the tech market,
and must not rely on a few big players.
And 2 that sometimes,
there’s nothing better than talking to each other.
As if #facebookdown wasn't bad enough for Facebook.
Now they receive unwelcome attention of Vestager on top of it,
pointed out Miika Blinn.
Even Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton, weighed in:
In the global digital space, everyone could experience a shutdown.
Europeans deserve a better digital resilience,
which he described as a work in progress.
Watch this space.
Finally this week, it was news, but not as we know it
as all 27 EU leaders
gathered in Brdo to discuss enlargement and….
Nothing happened.
It rained apparently.
Whoever's in charge of the weather in Brdo did a great job
- perfect atmosphere for this pointless summit moaned Toby Vogel.
Is Summit fatigue a recognized clinical condition,
and when will journalists get health coverage for it? Asked Una Hajdari.
Markus Preiss quoted a colleague:
“Like Woodstock. Just without sex and rock'n'roll.”
Strategic autonomy is great,
an umbrella is greater added Diego Velazquez.
Even Le Chou was left to imagine bizarre Squid Game scenarios...
No, me neither…
maybe it was a bit of a damp Squib Game?
Finally, Tanja Milevska envies people
who associate the word enlargement with penis size and not the EU.
You and me both!
That's it for this week
join us again next Friday
for more snarks and larks, grapes and japes
in the Brussels bubble twittersphere.