Brief

Trump administration registers site to bypass EU content rules

Paul Delor

Paul Delor

— 3 min read

Today in Brief

  • The Commission opens the sixth round of New European Bauhaus prizes, expanding the competition to Moldova, Brazil and Japan.
  • The Commission commits €225 million to next-generation flu vaccines, its largest ever investment in innovative medical countermeasures.
  • Brussels calls on member states to implement the revised Victims' Rights Directive ahead of the European Day for Victims of Crime.
  • The Trump administration registers a website intended to make content moderated under EU law available to European users.

Health

The Commission commits €225 million to the development of next-generation influenza vaccines.

Contracts worth €225 million have been signed to fund the clinical development of new flu vaccines, in what the Commission describes as its largest ever investment in innovative medical countermeasures. The funding is drawn from the EU4Health programme and managed by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. It covers clinical trial phases I through III and pre-market development through to market authorisation, with contracts running for 98 months. Unlike conventional procurement, the Commission is using a pre-commercial model designed to reduce the financial risk for developers, including smaller firms, and to pull more candidates through to market. The vaccines in development would offer broader protection across influenza strains, be easier to administer via nasal, oral, or skin-patch routes, and be capable of rapid scale-up in a pandemic. Contracts have been signed with ten organisations including Sanofi Pasteur SA, Bavarian Nordic AS, and Statens Serum Institut, among others.

"Innovation is at the heart of preparedness. This funding will unlock cutting-edge technologies, including more accessible and diverse vaccine administration methods, ensuring that effective vaccine options reach underserved and vulnerable groups."

Mme Hadja LAHBIB, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management

Justice

The Commission calls on member states to implement the revised Victims' Rights Directive ahead of the European Day for Victims of Crime.

Executive Vice-President Mme Henna VIRKKUNEN and Commissioner M. Michael McGRATH issued a joint statement on Thursday calling on all member states to implement the revised Victims' Rights Directive, following a political agreement reached by the Parliament and Council in December 2025. The revised rules introduce new support helplines, simplify online crime reporting, extend dedicated court support, strengthen the protection of personal data, and improve access to compensation. Child victims and people with disabilities receive specific provisions. Police officers, lawyers, and judicial officials will be required to undergo training. The original Directive has been in force since 2015. A 2022 evaluation found it had broadly delivered its expected benefits but identified gaps in victims' core rights that the revision aims to close.

Environment & Innovation

The Commission opens applications for the sixth round of New European Bauhaus prizes.

Applications are now open for the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2026 and the NEB Boost for Small Municipalities. Thirteen projects will receive prizes of up to €20,000, with 14 runners-up receiving €5,000 each. Twenty community projects in rural areas or towns of fewer than 20,000 residents will each receive €30,000 through the Boost scheme. This year's edition expands the geographic scope to include Moldova and introduces an international track open to projects from Brazil and Japan, as well as a new prize for water resilience. The four thematic categories cover circularity and sustainability, local democracy and inclusion, arts and cultural heritage, and NEB transformation enablers. Applications close on 17 March 2026. Finalists will be announced at the NEB Festival in June, with winners revealed in autumn.

EU-US Relations

The Trump administration registers a website intended to make content moderated under EU law available to European users.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency registered a new domain, freedom.gov, on 12 January, ahead of a planned announcement at the Munich Security Conference. The site currently displays only the message "Freedom is coming." It is reported by Reuters to be intended as a portal for content removed from platforms under EU rules, including the Digital Services Act, which the Trump administration has labelled a censorship tool. The content in question includes antisemitic, racist, and violent material, as well as terrorist incitement and disinformation, all of which are illegal under EU law. The mechanism under consideration is understood to involve a VPN service routing traffic through US servers. The project is led by Mme Sarah B. ROGERS, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, who in February compared the EU to East Germany and the Chinese Communist Party over its content moderation regime. M. Edward CORISTINE, a former DOGE associate, is also involved through the White House's National Design Studio. The State Department did not confirm the project but acknowledged digital freedom and VPN proliferation as policy priorities. The launch has been delayed. State Department lawyers are reported to have raised concerns.

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