Ireland will assume the EU presidency from July until the end of the year. Attitudes towards Big Tech in other European states are hardening. Irish officials dread the prospect of having to manage a Greenland crisis, or something similar, during their period in the EU hot seat. Striking a deal to revise the union’s strict data-protection rules, new AI regulations and other digital laws may fall to the Irish presidency. The internal document states that Ireland believed the EU should position itself as “a confident, outward-looking economic actor in a volatile global environment”.

Source: The Irish Times February 21, 2026 00:45 UTC