Mastodawn

ferrie=differentieel🔻in

Mar 18

@EUCommission i like to contribute - let me show you a futuristic idea about transportation

like to see it?

tell me

ww 🩶Mar 18

@EUCommission historically, some of the worst atrocities happened because europe thought it was time to scale

KuboF Hromoslav bio/acc 🧬Mar 18

@ww @EUCommission, fortunately, we have learnt quite a lot. See ekz. Positive Peace Index, World Values Survey, Spiral Dynamics to see how much Europe progressed in peacefulness ☮️

ww 🩶Mar 18

@kubofhromoslav @EUCommission i don't think it matters a whole lot what values europeans hold if they live in a bubble where frontex or even racism itself doesn't exist in europe, and all the neocolonialism is supposedly done by the united states only. that peacefulness does nothing to stop the eu from funding authoritarian north african countries' coast guard so they could shoot at search and rescue missions done by NGOs, or bribing and blackmailing poorer countries into increasing their border enforcement and accepting deportations, or funding ai drones that surveil palestinians, or trying to become the broker that facilitates deportations from third countries to other third countries (which, wtf?). it's different from before, sure, but it's not like europe ever decided to stop being fucked up to other people, or even just reflect on its colonial history at a large enough scale.

Passenger Mar 19

@ww @EUCommission

New and unrivalled efficiencies in drowning refugees in the mediterranean, giving weapons to Israel, coddling fascist political parties and giving people's identifying data to Peter Thiel.

Josh Mar 18

@EUCommission
Life isn't supposed to be competition. It is supposed to be for living. No matter how much we "compete", prosperity is denied us. You don't win the game of capitalism by playing it.

tldr: eat the rich.

mazzoo Mar 18

@EUCommission so this is our future?

/o\

ifrauding Mar 18

@mazzoo
Eschers cogwheels. 🤷

If you still think logically, you can't work for EU, I guess?!
@EUCommission

jfml - Jonas Laugs Mar 18

@mazzoo @EUCommission Yeah, I thought the illustration was rather unfortunate as well. If this isn't slop I wish the designer / illustrator had put some more thought into it (something humans can do, if they are paid ok and have the time which might not have been the case).

But disconnected and non-functioning cogs are not really a good look +___+

marcus Mar 18

@mazzoo
Wouldn't it be a sign of great competence if the EU commission would hire a graphics designer who knows about how gears work? 🙂
https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/164714/why-do-so-many-graphic-designers-suck-at-making-gears

Why do so many graphic designers suck at making gears?

Disclaimer: Post contains rantish tone, possibly even sarcasm! Lazy designers or those with feelings that bruise easily may take offense. 🤣 I see it all over the place. Like 9 out of 10 gear icons (

Graphic Design Stack Exchange

bovaz Mar 18

@EUCommission Know what this feels like?
https://xkcd.com/927/

Colin Rowat Mar 18

@EUCommission a decade ago, I started a company one Sunday evening in the UK: about to go to bed, I thought I'd take a look at the documentation requirements, so I could start collecting them. Twenty minutes and £20 later, I was a CEO. No capital requirements.

Stefan Ihringer Mar 18

@EUCommission @can So if there are no minimum capital requirements, you can’t sue for damages? With old school German GmbHs you at least knew that the company had 20.000€

KuboF Hromoslav bio/acc 🧬Mar 18

@EUCommission, great news! Go Europe 🇪🇺 Go entrepreneurs! Go innovation 💡

Brynawel Mar 18

That small outer left gear, that is Germany killing two innovative industries - and with that destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs - for the sake of an ancient technology - which is also dying and destroying hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The Altmeier/Reiche-Effect.

@EUCommission This seems like the type of thing that makes it easier to start pointless ventures where we can only hope the thoughtlessness doesn't cause too much harm. We don't need founders, we need thoughtful leaders making long-term decisions.

@munin @EUCommission I understand that LARPing the 'murican vernacular is cringe, most people working in EU institutions come from cringe Atlanticist countries that would even now be happy to be the 51st American state. But do you think Europeans will magically stop sinking billions into American-controlled tech overnight? What's your alternative plan to unhook our Union from dependency on their tech?

@Veza85UE @EUCommission It will not stop overnight, which is why I think our decisions must be focused on the long term. When we buy (either with our money or through our time using it) technology, our leaders should consider the long term effects and costs of both the technology itself and where it comes from. Absolutely, people with good ideas in Europe should be able to make those ideas happen. But making a worthwhile idea happen is not about speed.

@munin @EUCommission What is it about then? Because the EUropean tech bros pushing for this measure absolutely do not want to deal with 27 registrars and the thicket of BS national regulations that give them a fragmented market in which they cannot develop products at scale and can thus not compete with American tech.

@Veza85UE @EUCommission I don't really know enough about the specifics of the different countries to comment on that part of it. And hey, maybe having an EU-wide structure for making companies is a great thing. It just seems to me that being able to start a company with next to no friction is not conducive to people being thoughtful when building a company or a product. I don't want a "fail fast" mentality building our infrastructure or even our social media.

@munin @EUCommission That's what you already have. Except a handful of us here, every single government in the EU communicates with journalists (it's their self-sustaining loop) via American fascist tech bro-owned platforms. I don't think EUropean tech bros are much better (though some have better education behind them), but unless you plan on nuking the internet in all 27 EU member statelets or put them in reeducation camps, what's the alternative?

@munin @EUCommission Also, I'm not sure I understand the pro-🇪🇺 market fragmentation take here. What's the argument? Does passing through multiple hoops of paperwork that make your product late and more expensive build character?

@Veza85UE @EUCommission It seems like you are adding things to my take. "Start a company with no capital in less than 48 hours all online" and "EU needs founders" is what I disagree with. Beyond that, I don't know enough to comment.

@munin @EUCommission I can understand the lofty academic debate type argument behind "the EU does NOT need founders", one can agree or disagree, but at least it's a take that makes sense to me. What I'm struggling with is this one: "Start a company with no capital in less than 48 hours all online"

EU Inc. is geared towards online companies. I mean sure, the internet is fake and capital is fake and money as a concept is fake, but again, what is the benefit of NOT being able to do it in 48h?

@Veza85UE @EUCommission Maybe no benefit? I'm not sure. I'm not even sure how it currently works or what kind of approval process is in place, but I think friction is always a good place to stop and think about the big picture. If a thing isn't worth doing because you have to wait a bit, maybe we don't need it? Unfortunately, I can't offer much more than a vague disagreement with the sentiment of wanting founders to move fast.

https://www.eesti.ee/eraisik/en/artikkel/doing-business/establishing-a-company/start-a-business-in-estonia

@munin @EUCommission That's OK, if it's a vibe check then sure. :) Like I said, I don't even like these dweebs, it's annoying to have to take their side, but my ultimate vibe is: fragmentation inside the 🇪🇺 is Bad. So my instinct is to ask for counterarguments when it seems that someone claims it isn't and we need more of it. I understand now that it's not the case for you.

Will just add that E-stonia not only exists, but it's pretty thriving.

Eesti.ee

@Veza85UE @EUCommission Thanks for sharing :)

Eniko Fox Mar 18

@EUCommission awesome. Please do something about VAT compliance costs for small businesses next

Numerfolt Mar 18

@eniko @EUCommission Yessss!

Whatisgoingon Mar 19

@eniko @EUCommission 💯 this!

This is imho one of the biggest hurdles when selling int the EU as a small business.

If you want to be compliant you need to handle all VAT rules for all member states yourself OR use a merchant of record service.
But using a merchant of record service usually means another commission that is cut from your profit 😞

This is one of the big reasons why platforms like steam and itch dominate so much in online sales ...

Justi Mar 18

@EUCommission Finally! Please tell me it's gonna be a regulation not a directive... because otherwise it doesn't solve anything.

European Commission Mar 18

Hi @justive! Indeed, it will be a regulation , not a directive😉

Justi Mar 18

@EUCommission Love it! Looking forward to the implementation phase. Keep up the good work! For a strong EU ❤️🇪🇺

notsoloud Mar 18

@EUCommission
Nice 👍

A question: In Denmark we've had bad experiences with scammers using serial company setups to escape with money. Now there is a register of people who are not allowed to manage or own companies except with full personal liability.

Are there any plans for a similar Europe-wide register?

Silkester Mar 18

Keep out frauds like the types of Elon Musk, who invent nothing but keep their failing business running with well meaning public programs that pave the way to hell.

sherbang Mar 18

@EUCommission As a small business owner in the tech sector I have mixed feelings about this.

Making it easier to hire remote workers in different countries would be great. Also making it easier to start a business sounds good on the surface.

However, I suspect these changes are being driven by VC lobbying, and I trust nothing those greedy vultures touch!

Usually "more friendly business environment" is code for "easier for the oligarchs to leech off society".

Don't follow the US example!

konstruct-960T-BF64.gguf Mar 18

@pluralistic I think this is a sign

Goualante Mar 18

"compete", "scale"...

L'acceleration dans le mur, la competition de tous contre tous : la deshumanisation dans les conditions de travail et le moyen de pression qu'est la menace du chômage.

Charlie Chaplin movie, biographer Jeffrey Vance says "Modern Times is perhaps more meaningful now than at any time since its first release. The twentieth-century theme of the film, farsighted for its time—the struggle to eschew alienation and preserve humanity in a modern, mechanized world—profoundly reflects issues facing the twenty-first century (Wikipedia)

Kerplunk Mar 18

Us company cloudflare blocked my request, yet again.

Europe needs European Providers.

403 ERROR
The request could not be satisfied.
Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront)
Request ID: 2wcUc15Z7PurSx9lIeJkl1e_H9xH8fS22TfpArkYdIyFr3uJJBAJFg==

@EUCommission 👏

I thought Europe needs a search index and nurses... But hey, let's copy silicon valley and rob public money out to private pockets. Not sure how they will do it in this case, but they will for sure...

I'm afraid this leads to more techbro solutions to problems caused by techbros.

I can't help it, but I do not trust anything digital and large coming from a government that is presented under the premise of making things more convenient and beneficial for the people and economy.

Mr.Mark "The Sharpie King"Mar 18

@EUCommission
Glad to see the EU making it easier for entrepreneurs. And very glad that you are on Mastodon! (Ignore the critics!)
Here is an important article that relates directly to you.

https://blog.elenarossini.com/openness-transparency-and-reach-three-reasons-why-public-institutions-should-embrace-the-fediverse/

Openness, transparency and reach: three reasons why public institutions should embrace the Fediverse

An article making the case that the Fediverse is a fantastic communication platform for public institutions - because of its openness, transparency and reach.

Elena Rossini

Thom Mar 19

@EUCommission What Europe needs is not just speed and strength. Europe needs also food security, independence, and diversity.
Our current system relies heavily on the belief that our economy will continue to develop as it has since the end of World War II.
Increasing unrest, triggered in part by the unequal distribution of goods, raw materials, and resources, will necessitate a transformation of the capitalist system.
By managing the land available to us in a sustainable manner through sustainable, diversified, and small-scale farming, we can keep transportation distances short. Likewise, locally produced food can enhance food security.
The key lies in consumer behavior: we must reduce our demands, eat less meat, and consciously advocate for policies that enable change through regulatory intervention in the market.
👉 We should no longer focus solely on profit and economic growth; rather, the priority must be the sustainable use of resources, which are not infinite!

Rob Williamson Mar 19

Try a progressive europe-wide tax. Tax land ownership. That would boost the value of the Euro so you don't get inflation when you print Euros to pay for education, training and infrastructure projects. Yes, you can pay for a giant drone-centric military designed by the Ukrainians too...

Oh, you can rewrite the copyright laws that the US wrote for you so that they got all the value from IP.

Also, tax IP. You should not want your own Meta or Palantir. Those things are disasters.

Whatisgoingon Mar 19

@EUCommission next implement a EU merchant of record service that handles all VAT MOSS requirements for small businesses and doesn't take a 30% cut for doing so.

This would really help!

It would also help to dismantle some of the marketplace and platform monopolies.

qpixelu Mar 19

@EUCommission Google is turning Android into a walled garden, suffocating projects like GrapheneOS. By locking AOSP and using Play Integrity API, they’re hijacking our hardware control under the guise of 'safety' to kill privacy-focused competition. An anti-competitive abuse that must be stopped!