Anthony Zacharzewski
@anthonyzach.be
5.9K followers 5.4K following 6.4K posts
Working to make European democracy work. "Refreshingly free of the usual platitudes". Belge par choix, Brits door opvoeding, Polish roots. President of Demsoc.org
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Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
politicalwatch.es
Creemos que se requieren medidas urgentes desde distintas disciplinas. Por eso, al evento invitamos a personas tanto del sector privado, como de la sociedad civil y del sector público.

Gracias por el apoyo @demsoc.org European Climate Foundation @opengovpartnership.org
anthonyzach.be
Keiserlich Königlich Kosmonautich
anthonyzach.be
Listening to a radio story about a Belgian trade mission to the US which is buying US defence materiel and securing a big investment by Amazon in Belgium “which will support Belgian small business” - genuinely not sure which is the more strategically short-sighted.
anthonyzach.be
Ship Money latest.
peark.es
Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
bramclaeys.bsky.social
We even had 3 hours on Saturday when Belgian consumption was entirely covered by renewables.

Great thread by @jolaveyne.bsky.social
screenshot of week 40 electricity production in Belgium from energy-charts.info
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
ec.europa.eu
Europe’s environment and oceans are sending a clear message:

Progress has a price. Waters are rising fast.

Here’s what the latest EU reports reveal ↓
Split image of the same island showing changes in sea level: the left side labelled '1901' in black and white shows a lighthouse and house with more exposed land; the right side labelled '2024' in colour shows the same structures with water much closer, indicating rising sea levels. Text on top reads ‘The oceans will claim what we fail to protect’. European Commission logo at bottom right.
anthonyzach.be
« Compromis à la français »
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
wtfrench76.bsky.social
"Walloonacy dans l'Élysée", starring Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
anthonyzach.be
The “Freaky Friday” comedy where the President of France wakes up one morning as the King of Belgium writes itself.
afp.com
Le Premier ministre Sébastien Lecornu a remis lundi sa démission à Emmanuel Macron, qui l'a acceptée, a annoncé lundi l'Elysée dans un communiqué.
anthonyzach.be
I’ve always seen them as homoioöusian
anthonyzach.be
(The place that’s closed was known as Gardi’s)
anthonyzach.be
We will get 150k people a year to catch themselves on.
anthonyzach.be
It reminds me of the constitutional reform process we have in Belgium where articles of the constitution have to be “unlocked” for revision in one parliament before they can be changed by the subsequent one. No citizen process in the middle here, sadly…
anthonyzach.be
This was a very good listen. Alan’s two-referendum approach (I’d add a citizen deliberation process in the middle) is a good way of getting around the 1-bit problem (yes or no) of the information that referendums give on public preferences.
ppfideas.bsky.social
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!

In today’s episode David talks to @alanrenwick.bsky.social from UCL’s Constitution Unit about the pros & cons of referendums. How can they be used to open up political debate? When does a democratic question need to be put direct to the people?

Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
katjabego.bsky.social
Macron: “We’ve been guilty of handing over our public democratic space to social networks owned by big American and Chinese firms whose interests are not in the survival and the functioning of our democracy."

I'm quite hopeful that French-German leadership on tech sovereignty can achieve something.
Europe’s democracies are in danger, warn Merz and Macron
Threats dwarf anything seen since the Cold War, says German chancellor.
politico.eu
Reposted by Anthony Zacharzewski
Well its more complicated story here. We have one of the lowest unemployment rate in the EU (~2%), solid HDP growth recently. But the felt inflation during last few years led to the development of precariat. Fortunately, the far right SPD lost votes and Putinists failed to enter parliament
anthonyzach.be
Those generational businesses are always sad to lose. I remember when I lived in the East End in the late 90s, my Jewish neighbour remembered all the old shops of the Jewish community closing or moving (the Beigel Bake on Brick Lane being one of the last holdouts).
anthonyzach.be
Though I guess I should say, in honour of their Greekness and my Classical studies in the town, Πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει (Everything flows and nothing stays).
anthonyzach.be
I don't know what could have been done with them, though. The only way to stop this would have been "centre-right politicians grow a spine and stop taking their opinions from their authoritarian fringe" which is ... not apparently possible in the UK.
anthonyzach.be
The chances of a totally unconstrained authoritarian government taking control are considerably north of zero, and the lesson of what has happened in the US is that such things need to be fought every step of the way, and every constraint on their power needs to be defended to the last.
anthonyzach.be
I slightly disagree with your first contention, because the impact on Northern Ireland, the Withdrawal Agreement and general EU/UK relations will be a brake to actually pressing the button and leaving the Convention. And I think you are much too optimistic about the limited effect within the UK.
anthonyzach.be
Brussels should indeed. Also, I note that Tisza (the Magyar-led opposition in Hungary) is focusing a lot of organising effort on rural areas. Partly because Orban has skewed the electoral system away from opposition-controlled urban areas, but also because rural areas are feeling very left behind.
rodriguez-pose.bsky.social
#Czechia re-elects #Babiš. The map tells the tale: #Prague holds out, towns & rural areas—where status, jobs & faith have faded—swing.
Brussels should invest in the places time forgot or brace for irrelevance.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... doi.org/10.1093/cjre...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
anthonyzach.be
The greatest trick autocrats ever played was convincing the poor that human rights only benefit foreigners.
helenebismarck.bsky.social
Well it has happened.
The leadership of the Conservative&Unionist Party is advocating leaving the ECHR. Not reforming it, or working with other members to alter any rules.
Leave it. Like Putin’s Russia.
I can’t help wondering what those Tories who are rightly proud of 🇬🇧’s support for 🇺🇦 are thinking.