The hazards of having an opinion – POLITICO

HOWDY. Welcome to this week’s EU Influence, where we’re still recovering from the rentrée season. The ironic little secret, we’ve found, is that a surprising proportion of professional schmoozers, be they lobbyists or journalists, are actually introverts. So we appreciated this guide from Irish diplomat Erica Lee to networking in the bubble for those of us who are exhausted by talking to strangers. Bookmark it.

TECH CHECK-IN

HARD LESSONS, BROUGHT TO YOU BY WEB SUMMIT: You don’t have to have a public opinion on everything — that’s the moral of the story of Paddy Cosgrave and the Web Summit.

Quick backstory: Cosgrave resigned as CEO of the world’s biggest tech conference after a furor over his X post about the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

“War crimes are war crimes, even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are,” Cosgrave said on October 13.

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Maybe, Paddy, maybe … but do they need to be called out by you? Big Tech players Amazon, TikTok, Google, Intel and Stripe evidently didn’t think so: They all pulled out of the conference, and Cosgrave’s departure did nothing to stanch the bleeding, POLITICO’s Pieter Haeck reported.

Gurus weigh in: EU Influence asked her LinkedIn followers what corporate execs should learn from all this. Some highlights:

— Sebastián Rodríguez said CEOs should stick to running the company. “When you hop on the soapbox, you might just find yourself stepping off the corporate ladder.”

— Stephen Massey advised layered checks to keep execs from mouthing off, including conducting risk assessments and monitoring public sentiment. “CEO engagement in public affairs is great — but that engagement needs to be focused on the organization’s vision, mission and objectives. Otherwise it’s just noise.”

— Dan Baxter invoked marketing professor Scott Galloway on the Pivot podcast. “Remember that as CEO, you speak for the organization — so unless you know that everyone working there agrees with you, be cautious about expressing personal views on sensitive topics.”

UBER FLOODS THE ZONE AHEAD OF PLATFORM WORKER TALKS: The next round of three-way negotiations on the EU’s Platform Work bill is right around the corner on November 9. Pieter Haeck walks us through the frantic push by gig work companies to influence the talks.

Ads, ads, ads! Take a look at Uber’s lobbying playbook over the last few weeks.

— It kicked off an autumn push with a doom-and-gloom interview on September 20 with one of its top executives, who warned Uber would have to shut down in “hundreds” of European cities if the EU went ahead with its reclassification push (a rehashed version of a well-known message).

— From September 25 onward, Uber launched a range of ads, a POLITICO review of Meta’s ad library learns, pushing messages like: “We’re committed to being better partners to our drivers and couriers across Europe,” or: “At Uber, we’re committed to continuing our support for local business across Europe.”

— It launched its latest salvo this past Monday, with the key phrase that “myths fuel misunderstandings” about Uber, so “it’s time to share the facts” — aligning with earlier messaging that Uber is no longer the bad guy we all remember so well.

— Yes, you probably also saw the huge POLITICO newspaper wrap Uber bought for the October 19 edition. (And perhaps some, er, newsletter sponsorships.)

Bolt dispatch: Uber competitor Bolt is operating more below the waterline — but still, Bolt CEO Markus Vilig is expected to be in Brussels two days before the talks, during an event on shared mobility on November 7 — which will also be attended by Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean. He’s scheduled to attend the Web Summit in mid-November, as well.

But but but: There’s not much optimism about the current pace of the talks. Asked about the progress, Dutch Greens MEP Kim van Sparrentak, who covers the file, said it is “going slowly,” adding that the Spanish Council presidency is not eager to move.

THORNY QUESTIONS

NGOs ZERO IN ON COMMISSION MICROTARGETING:  Six watchdog NGOs are accusing the Commission of giving tech companies and other lobbyists too much say on legislation meant to target child sexual abuse online. They’re also not fans of the Commission’s approach of using microtargeting to drum up support. 

How fighting child abuse becomes controversial: OK, so no one is in favor of letting child porn proliferate. But scanning private messages to find exploitative images? That idea has raised alarm bells. Germany is a top opponent, and civil society groups are also worried that the technology could undermine encryption. Given their concern about the substance, it’s no surprise that NGOs are scrutinizing the Commission’s behavior as Parliament heads toward a vote on November 13.

The Commission’s campaign: As my Pro Tech colleague Clothilde Goujard reported earlier this month, the Home Affairs department, responsible for the draft law, put out several ads — seen over 3.12 million times in several countries including Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic — within a two-week period in September.

Targeting users in their native language, the ads said a majority of citizens supported the scanning of content to find sexual abuse and conversations even in end-to-end encrypted messages, based on Commission statistics. “We need a European law now. Time is running out,” according to a French-language video in one of the ads.

Commission responds: Ylva Johansson, the commissioner in charge of the file, defended her approach before a Parliament panel Wednesday: “I met three times with Microsoft, two times with Twitter, six times with Google three times with Facebook/WhatsApp/Instagram/Messenger, three times with TikTok/Bytedance. Once with ICANN, once with Apple, once with Amazon, once with the Tech Alliance, two times with Thorn,” she said, arguing that it’s the Commission’s job to facilitate compromise. 

‘Obligation’ to promote: Johansson also said it’s not just “common” for the Commission to use targeted advertising to promote its proposals, it’s an “obligation.” After rattling off a series of examples where it’s been done in the past, she added: “So I’m not the first one. I’m not going to be the last one.”

THORN IN THE EYE: The NGO letter also expressed concern about Thorn, an American charity-slash-software-developer founded by the actor Ashton Kutcher. They point to an investigation by Follow the Money that described a deep collaboration between Thorn and the Commission. The outlet characterizes Thorn’s efforts to get Europe to adopt its own technology as “blurr[ing] the boundaries between its public advocacy and private interest.”

‘Weird system’: “I get the concern,” said Emily Slifer, director of policy at Thorn, in an interview this morning. She described Thorn as a “weird system,” set up as a nonprofit charity in the U.S. to create a technology that can pinpoint child sex abuse material. “Because we’re mission driven, we stepped into advocacy,” she said. 

While Thorn does receive income from selling the technology, there are limits under its nonprofit status in the U.S. to how much it can take in. “We’ve set up to fix a problem, not to ever make money off of it,” Slifer said.

METSOLA INTERVIEW

MEASURE OF THE MANDATE: European Parliament President Roberta Metsola defended the reforms she’s driven through in the wake of the Qatargate corruption scandal, saying they now ensure that in the future, “Alarm bells are rung earlier and that firewalls have been put in place.” She told Eddy Wax in an exclusive interview this week: “I would like to have this mandate measured on our response.”

Eying the next steps: The final, most tricky parts of her 14-point plan to clean up the Parliament — the plan she only ever framed as “first steps” — come into force on November 1. They cover MEPs’ conflicts of interest and financial declarations. As part of broader, longer-term reforms and in the wake of other scandals, Metsola said the Parliament is looking up how to form an inquiry committee quicker.

Half empty: Leading by example, Metsola herself has been a scrupulous uploader of financial declarations on her own MEP webpage, which was last updated on October 9 to remove her nonpaid role as a wine dame of an exclusive Burgundy club. She said that the membership of French wine club had expired. “It was only valid for one year,” she said.

BOOSTING THE BELGIANS: The Belgian judicial system’s Qatargate investigation is teetering under pressure from defense lawyers who are trying to get the case dismissed by arguing there are legal problems with the way the Belgians conducted their probe. “I need to and will continue to have faith in the Belgian justice system,” said Metsola, underlining the presumption of innocence for all those charged. More highlights from Eddy’s interview with Metsola here.

TRANSPARENCY DEPT.

TRILOGUE TRANSPARENCY: We’re not so much surprised that transparency NGOs got 17,100 people to sign a petition calling for trilogues to be held in the open as we are that they found 17,100 people who know what a trilogue is. 

Of course you know what it is: The three-way negotiations among the Commission, Council and Parliament once they’ve each adopted their version of legislation. 

How the NGOs explained it: In their petition, Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl noted that in the rush for last-minute tweaks, “well-funded lobbies who can exert influence on all three EU institutions at the same time” are able to take advantage. Regular citizens, on the other hand, have no access.

Action Wednesday: Activists demonstrated for transparency on a drizzly Place Luxembourg, and handed signed petitions to S&D MEP Katarina Barley, the Parliament’s VP for transparency issues.

5 PFIZERGATE THINGS: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages with a pharma CEO might have been “ephemeral,” but the resulting controversy is anything but. POLITICO’s Elisa Braun has this must-read explainer on the case, including why the New York Times is likely to win its suit against the EU executive for failing to make the messages public.

**Hear Georges Gilkinet, Belgium vice-prime minister and minister for transport and mobility open the Mobility stream of our Sustainable Future Week on November 14. Apply here to attend onsite.**

PARTY HOPPING

BRUSSELS SIGNAL — ALIVE AND UNWOKE: There’s an inherent conflict of interest in writing about potential competition, and the newish media organization Brussels Signal has made pretty clear that it aims to shake up the scene here. Publisher Patrick Egan, a veteran comms strategist for Fidesz, told those assembled at the Sofitel Tuesday for the official launch party that the goal is to bring “fresh air” to debates around migration, Ukraine, the 2024 elections and “the defense of freedom of speech” in the EU.

The latter was the theme of the evening. Editor-in-Chief Michael Mosbacher, known in the United Kingdom for launching the high-end contrarian magazines Standpoint and The Critic, derided “groupthink” in Brussels toward more regulation, including of the press and social media. (The publication maintains a critical frame on the Commission’s standoff with X over Hamas-related content.) 

Culture warriors: Stars of the British contrarian media scene — satirist Konstantin Kisin and journalist Louise Perry — delivered keynote speeches. The latter offered an extended analogy of the current wokist era as the Second Reformation, comparing the debate over transubstantiation to the contemporary trans rights debate. (And you thought subsidiarity and comitology were tough concepts!)

Fascinating exchange: During a Q&A, Dutch ECR MEP Michiel Hoogeveen asked how to foster free speech while “having our democratic process still in order.” Absent traditional media gatekeepers, “influencers” fueled by “crackpot theories” are able to parlay their followings into political careers, Hoogeveen said. They head to Brussels and Washington “not to make a law, but to make noise on social media.” How, Hoogeveen asked, to reconcile free speech and the “democratic process?”

Deal with it: “Can we uninvent social media? I don’t think so,” Kisin said. So people — politicians included — “are going to have to learn how to work in this new environment in a constructive way.”

Deal with it, 2: Egan noted that “detractors” are trying to “smear” Brussels Signal and anticipated a “hit piece.” He refused to answer EU Influence’s question about his startup funding.

**What role can policy and public funding play in connectivity? Join us on November 30 at POLITICO Live’s event “Connectivity for all: EU’s vision for a competitive sector” with a panel of experts. Don’t miss this opportunity and register today!**

INFLUENCERS

CLIMATE

— Helen Spence-Jackson has been promoted to a director of the Environmental Defense Fund Europe. 

CONSULTING & COMMS

— Katrina Williams became a senior advisor in the Rud Pedersen Public Affairs, after previously having worked at the U.K. Permanent Representation to the EU.

— Albane Vannier has started as a consultant at Fourtold, joining from the European External Action Service.

— Ina-Marie Stark started at European Business Summit as communications manager, joining from Centre on Regulation in Europe.

— Natalia Richardson starts as media relations manager at Gopa Com. She was previously with SMEunited.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

— Eline Chivot left the European People’s Party to join the Digital Decade coordination unit at the Commission’s DG Connect.

— Ron Korver joined the cabinet of VP Dubravka Šuica, via DG Reform.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

 — The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) hired Rémi Kireche, previously of Flint Global, as director of advocacy.

— Claudia Buch, currently vice president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, was appointed a chair of the supervisory board of the European Central Bank as of January 1 for five years. She will replace Andrea Enria.

HEALTH CARE

— Kate Boor Ellis has been promoted to director for communication and meetings at Alzheimer Europe.

POLITICS

— The ALDE Party picked Didrik de Schaetzen as its new secretary general. His predecessor, Jacob Moroza-Rasmussen, is now at APCO Worldwide after stepping down in March.

TECH

— Adriana Torres Vergara has started working as an EU public affairs manager for the French lobby house Adan, which specializes in Web 3 and crypto assets. 

THANKS TO: Pieter Haeck, Eddy Wax, Gian Volpicelli, Louise Guillot, Bjarke Smith-Meyer and especially Ketrin Jochecová; web producer Giulia Poloni and my editors Sonya Diehn and Ali Walker.

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