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Martin Dermine

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

Dermine is forcing a major rethink for farmers after his NGO, PAN Europe, won a lawsuit at the Court of Justice of the EU earlier this year, overturning EU emergency authorization allowing the use of banned pesticides. The case successfully challenged capitals’ practice of granting exceptions to the ban on neonicotinoids — which are known to harm bees — for treating seeds. While so-called neonics make up some half of exemptions under the EU’s pesticide regulations, PAN Europe argues that the Luxembourg court’s ruling effectively closes a major loophole that keeps banned pesticides on the market — a view recently backed by the Commission.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Kai Zenner

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

A digital policy adviser to a key center-right MEP, Zenner essentially wrote large chunks of the Parliament’s amendments to the AI Act, inserting language to ensure that machine learning is overseen by humans; and that the EU’s early efforts at regulation will also apply to future technologies that we haven’t even dreamed of yet. Unlike most parliamentary assistants who put their boss in front, Zenner is a vocal part of the digital debate, posting regularly about the legislative process on his website, which promotes “pragmatism against populism and stagnation.”Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Alessandro Gropelli

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

How do you go up against Big Tech when you represent boring old telephone utilities? It’s all in the framing, of course — and that’s where Gropelli is proving his mettle. Members of his telco association, ETNO, are worried about shrinking margins even as demand for better bandwidth grows — and they want the Googles and Netflixes of the world, who are using that bandwidth, to help foot the bill. Or, as ETNO would put it, they should pay their “fair share.” And that phrase has taken over the debate even as Big Tech tries to label any contribution a tax or a network fee. The “fair share” concept has forced Silicon Valley players onto the defensive, arguing that demand for their services is the only thing keeping the telcos relevant.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Victoria Main

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

Although Main left the news business more than a dozen years ago, she lobbies like a dogged reporter: shameless in her approach — often to the point of being annoying — and seemingly everywhere. That’s helped her attract sleepy business tech clients who want to get on the radar as well as controversial players who’d rather stay off it — including Twitter and Uber. And while Main’s native New Zealand hasn’t historically offered many connections in Brussels, the exclusive club of Kiwi journalists has in recent times become an incomparable power network.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Connor Allen

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

Allen’s Japanese employer may be a bit player on a policy scene dominated by Das Auto, but he keeps a high public profile — by design. With less than a decade in the Brussels bubble, he’s pulling back the curtain on everything he’s learned, whether it’s attempting (with mixed success) to distill the EU legislative process into 60-second TikTok clips or interviewing fellow lobbyists as co-host of the Pluxcast podcast. On Twitter, he sometimes plays the part of a typical Gen-Zer, with public displays of compassion and plenty of personal disclosure. But then he mixes that up with good-natured jabs at left-leaning Brussels “bike Twitter” and mockery of the green elite — his public sparring partners are often personal friends — offering an experiment in how the pro-European center right could hold its own in the under-35 space.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Matthew Tabone

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

Few politicians in Brussels are more ambitious than European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, with her make-or-break year lying ahead. And she’s trusting Tabone with the issues most crucial to her political image. Task No. 1: Take advantage of opportunity in the Qatargate crisis by burnishing her chops as a parliamentary reformer. A push for more transparency involves overcoming both her native Malta’s culture of political corruption, as well as her own center-right political group’s resistance to any overhaul that could compromise MEPs’ freedom of mandate. And for Metsola, Tabone is more than a confidant; he’s also family, married to her sister.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

Robert Kopitsch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

Kopitsch isn’t your mere crypto bro — he’s nothing less than Brussels’ crypto godfather, always ready with a sermon on how digital currencies can change the world. Well into his tenure at APCO in 2018, Kopitsch founded Blockchain for Europe, recruiting big players like Coinbase and Ripple. And even if digital money might be impermanent, his influence is concrete: Well-connected in the Commission, Kopitsch recently engineered a powwow with EU officials and the European fintech industry, bringing key U.S. lawmaking advisers to a February fact-finding mission in Brussels.Check out the full Power 40 — Brussels class of 2023 list, and read the Letter from the Editors for an explanation of the thinking behind the ranking.

New study suggests people dealing with depression after traumatic brain injury may be struggling with unique disorder

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

A new study led by a doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital suggests that people dealing with depression after suffering a traumatic brain injury could be struggling with a unique depressive disorder. Findings of the study were published on Wednesday. Researchers now say they hope the study can help those struggling finally find answers.“A lot of times, people who are suffering from depression after a brain injury, they start to blame themselves,” said Dr. Shan Siddiqi. “They start to think, ‘I wish I could recover a little bit faster.” “I’m hoping this will help them recognize that this is actually a complication of the physical trauma independent of everything else that is happening,” Siddiqi continued. “Of course, the emotional trauma is also important, but it turns out, in this case, it’s the physical trauma that is causing it.”Researchers are calling the disorder “traumatic brain injury affective syndrome.” Moving forward, doctors say the...

Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg spark Orioles’ rally as Dean Kremer strikes out career-high 10 Yankees in 6-3 win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

For about a week, Colton Cowser’s colorful energy and Jordan Westburg’s robotic stoicism were forced apart, Westburg freshly in the majors as Cowser pushed to join him. Wednesday, the pair of top Orioles prospects reunited in a big league ballpark Wednesday.“I gave him a little bit of a hard time already today; he gave me a hard time as well,” Cowser said before his major league debut. “So we’re back to normal.”Perhaps what the pair showed in the sixth inning of a 6-3 victory over the New York Yankees will be the Orioles’ new normal. Cowser’s first hit with Baltimore, a left-on-left RBI single, put a scuffling Orioles offense on the board. Westburg, in his eighth major league game, followed with a line drive past left fielder Jake Bauers’ diving effort, his first career triple plating two before he raced home himself on Adam Frazier’s grounder.The four-run frame was a welcome outburst for an Orioles team that had drop...

Cameraman injured by errant throw as Orioles topple Yankees in sloppy defeat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:17 GMT

The Yankees had a chance to lock up a series win against the rival Orioles on Wednesday, but they coughed up a lead and lost, 6-3, after rookie Randy Vásquez shined in his third major league start.The Yankees scored twice in the fifth thanks to a solo shot from Josh Donaldson — his ninth home run of the year — and an RBI single from Kyle Higashioka. But things took a scary turn in between the runs, as an errant throw from Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson sailed into the camera well next to the Yankees dugout and struck YES Network cameraman Pete Stendel in the head.The Yankees’ in-dugout personnel immediately rushed to help Stendel and passed towels his way as players and coaches watched in fear. A first aid team ultimately carried Stendel off on a stretcher and golf cart.Fortunately, he was able to throw up a peace sign on his way off the field as fans chanted “MVP.” The scary situation created a 17-minute game delay.Once play resumed, the Oriol...