Buy European

France is saying "non" to Chinese photovoltaic components through a mix of protectionism and cybersecurity requirements as it readies a government-backed program of new solar energy projects.

...

President Emmanuel Macron's government set out a timeline for a solar procurement effort late last week, a couple of months after publishing a 10-year energy-transition roadmap called PP3, which envisions 1.2 gigawatts of new solar capacity. Companies will be able to bid for small and ground-mounted solar projects this coming July, and for other industrial installations in the fall. As is the French way, there's a strong preference for French companies.

...

The government said its chief objective with small solar installations is to encourage citizens to go electric wherever possible, a change in power generation that should also shield them from wild swings in energy prices. For larger projects, the aim is more explicitly to onshore panel production and break free from China's grip on the market. The government said more than 80% of key photovoltaic components currently come from China.

...

Lithuania effectively banned Chinese inverters from its solar and wind installations in 2024 due to fears over remote access. Reuters reported in May 2025 that U.S. energy experts found undocumented communication devices in some China-made inverters, which could allow those devices to communicate back home in a way that bypasses the utility-company firewalls meant to prevent such things.

...

The EU's executive body signaled that it was listening in a December communication on "strengthening EU economic security," where it highlighted solar inverters as a prime example of a critical infrastructure risk. It suggested that the devices could prove to be vectors for "manipulating electricity production parameters, preventing electricity production, [and] access to operational data."

...

Consequently France supports the use of European-made parts in wind and solar energy auctions and intends to introduce a cybersecurity requirement.

France has initiated a 12 GW renewable energy auction initiative that emphasizes projects utilizing a greater proportion of European-manufactured technology, aiming to strengthen Europe’s energy autonomy. The nation also announced plans to implement cybersecurity standards in future auctions.

The 12 GW renewable auction initiative includes seven offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 10 GW, in addition to 1.2 GW of solar energy and 0.8 GW from onshore wind sources.

The "resilience criterion" is designed to prioritize a higher proportion of European-sourced components to lessen dependence on imports, especially from China.

The bidding guidelines limit components sourced from China.

...

Web Archive link

Over the past 18 months, Tesla has been working with the Dutch vehicle approval organization, RDW, to get approval for its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) semi-autonomous driving system.

After a long consultation period, which included covering almost one million miles with FSD (Supervised) active and offering ride-along trials with 13,000 people in numerous European countries, the RDW deemed the technology safe to be given the green light.

Tesla’s controversial CEO, Elon Musk, has long-promised to introduce the partially autonomous cruise control system to other markets outside of the US, where it has been on sale for years. But the company has regularly butted up against regulatory red tape.

According to a press statement put out by Tesla to promote its European debut, the company says that when FSD (Supervised) is engaged, collisions are up to "seven-times less likely per kilometer driven compared to manual driving alone".

However, safety campaigners, such as Dan O’Dowd of The Dawn Project, reiterates that “59 people have been killed in over 3,000 crashes involving Tesla’s self-driving software in the U.S. since 2021 alone”.

"The RDW's decision is deeply troubling given Tesla FSD's myriad of well-documented safety defects," O’Dowd adds.

What's more, the company’s Robotaxis, which use a similar hardware suite that relies on the vehicle’s external cameras and artificial intelligence to navigate the world, as opposed to a plethora of radar and Lidar sensors like rivals, have made the headlines because data suggests they crash four times more often than the average human driver, according to Fortune. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

In a bid to bolster its safety credentials, Tesla has made a number of changes to its software for the version that will go on sale in the Netherlands.

Not a Tesla App reported that those customers that had first-hand ride-along experience with Euro-spec FSD (Supervised) noticed that it differed to the technology found in the US.

Dutch owners will have to pass a mandatory safety quiz before FSD activates, for example, while the 'Sloth' to 'Mad Max' speed profiles in the US version have been ditched in favor of more straightforward 'Max Speed' setting in the Netherlands.

Analysis: Europe will be watching closely

While it is easy to think that the recent ruling in the Netherlands will automatically open the door for FSD (Supervised) to be used in the rest of Europe, it is highly likely that many other markets will continue to exercise caution.

Even RDW, the organization that gave the green-light to FSD (Supervised|) in the Netherlands, says that the system is not "self-driving," adding that the "driver remains responsible and must always remain in control."

This confusion with messaging used to promote the technology’s capabilities has caused plenty of problems in the US, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launching an investigation into the safety of the technology.

Recently, it escalated its probe to "Engineering Analysis", which it says will evaluate the system’s ability to operate in reduced roadway visibility.

All the while, Elon Musk continues to promote the fact that every iteration of the FSD software will “far exceed human levels of safety" and that users will soon be able to text and drive, when realistically, it’s simply a Level 2 semi-autonomous cruise control system that is also offered by the likes of Ford and BMW.

I've replaced the title with the description from EU Observer's Toot. I've felt that the question in the title unnecessarily obfuscates the message of this opinion piece.

Discover Mistral AI’s actionable playbook to turn Europe into a self-reliant AI powerhouse—fostering talent, scaling innovation, and securing strategic autonomy.

Found out today when one of my cards was greyed out and I logged out and in again to reload my cards. Good thing I always have one of my physical cards with me, otherwise I would have had to construct some form of sail on my car to get home. As far as I know that was the last European, at least Swedish Wallet app that wasn't one of the tech giants Wallets. It was a good run but I'm back to plastic cards I guess. Really hoping for a European alternative to master card/visa will be revealed soon and with a digital wallet to go with it. If I'm wrong here and there is a EU based Wallet compatible with /e/OS, Android please let me know.

EuroStack has over 400 industry supporters and a listing of over 1600 open source software solutions already. If you did not join yet… consider it!

@eurostack
@fsfe @buyeuropean @CCC

#EuroStack

https://eurostack.eu/industrysupport/

From looking online it seems Chipolo may be the only European alternative available. Does anyone have experience with Chipolo devices and have any positive/negative feedback?

Jason Donenfeld, the creator of the open source WireGuard VPN software, told TechCrunch that he has been locked out of his Microsoft developer account, and as a result cannot sign drivers or ship updates for WireGuard for Windows users, which are critical for its software to run. Donenfeld said in a post on X on Wednesday that the account termination stopped a WireGuard update from shipping.

...

Web Archive link

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45460975

Hi, i'm looking at a replacement for my garmin forerunner 305.

Something that fits running and swimming, preferablu not from usa, has good privacy, and .... Can be read without my reading glasses.

Most can be found in comparisons, but not readability without reading glasses.

But I can't be the only one ;) Any recomendations?

Bizum is expanding beyond transfers. From May, you’ll be able to pay in shops across Spain using your phone. Here’s how it works and why it matters.

Keen not to buy American (lifetime) or Isralie (Keter). Anyone know of a UK (ideally to keep the air miles down) or European product alternative please?

Any EU/UK alternatives to Jackery solar chargers and power banks. Looking for something for a simple camper van conversion.

Edgewing, a joint venture between Italy, Japan, and the UK, has won the first contract to develop the GCAP sixth-generation fighter jet.

A further 58 per cent indicated it was a proposal worth exploring further