Tomorrow, Ireland takes over as EU Council Presidency for six months, when the EU is renegotiating tech and tax rules. In The Guardian this morning I argue it must recuse itself from these discussions because it is so captured by big tech. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/30/ireland-big-tech-lapdog-eu-presidency-digital-sovereignty
There was a time when Europe looked like the world’s answer to the worst excesses of big tech. Ireland has sabotaged that dream for a massive payoff.
Ireland collected almost 5x corporate tax per person than France or Germany (2022 is the latest figure I saw).
Jun 30, 2026, 4:59 PM@johnnyryan also, planet Earth is Big Tech's lapdog
@johnnyryan very good point, and i completely agree ... but I'm not holding my breath.
@johnnyryan The indictment is clear and warranted. I don't see Ireland offering to recuse itself unless the rest of EU were to make up the revenue shortfall, which seems unlikely. Ireland refusing to sacrifice itself is not hard to understand after the sovereign bailed out German and other hedge funds and is still dealing with a debt overhang.
The bigger picture and long term trajectory of transatlantic relations likely changed yesterday & may be a more fruitful focus?