Can the EU get kids off social media?

Good morning. Today, our technology correspondent reports on talks between EU capitals to find a shared view on limiting social media access, and our trade correspondent reveals that the bloc’s outgoing trade chief turned down another senior Commission role to move into academia.

We will take a break for the Labour Day holiday, and will be back on Monday. Ben Hall is in your inboxes on Saturday. Have a great weekend.

The kids are alright

European digital ministers meet in Cyprus today to compare notes on how to limit children’s access to social media, amid growing pressure for EU-wide rules, writes Barbara Moens.

Context: Several European countries are edging closer to broad social media bans for children, but questions remain over how to enforce them. Critics warn national rules could end up toothless and push for a European-wide approach.

EU telecommunications ministers will discuss what “advantages and possible challenges exist from adopting a harmonised EU mechanism compared to national solutions,” according to a note from the Cypriot Presidency of the Council, seen by the FT.

It does not help that there is no clear steer from Brussels. The European Commission has stepped up efforts to protect minors online, including investigations of platforms under the Digital Services Act and work on an age-verification app that would allow users to prove their age via a privacy-friendly system. 

But the Commission has yet to take a stance on a broader social media ban for children, as it awaits input from an expert group due this summer. 

That lack of clarity is frustrating for several capitals, which are keen to act but worry about enforcement and fragmentation. Age limits also vary, with France banning access under 15, while others are considering a threshold of 14 or 16.

For Cyprus, the debate is a “strategic opportunity to move beyond fragmented national measures towards a harmonised EU-level approach, ensuring a consistent standard of safety and legal certainty across the Digital Single Market”.

But chances are high that ministers today will agree to disagree until they get a clearer steer from Brussels.

Chart du jour: Flutter

More than half the large, low-probability bets on military action on Polymarket turn out to be correct, raising concerns about overlooked security risks.

In control

Outgoing EU trade chief Sabine Weyand turned down a key Commission leadership post in favour of a pre-retirement teaching job, writes Andy Bounds.

Context: Weyand’s departure as director-general of the Commission’s powerful trade department has fuelled speculation of a rift with her political leaders over the EU-US trade deal.

Three senior officials told the FT on Wednesday that Weyand, 62, had been offered another top director-general post after a stint of seven years leading DG Trade, but instead chose to take up a teaching position at the European University Institute in Florence.

“She didn’t want at this stage of her career to have to engage with a whole new area. She thinks teaching trade will be interesting and relevant and use her skills,” said one of the officials.

The two other officials confirmed there were differences of opinion with trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič over how to respond to US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive, but said the relationship remained professional and respectful.

Weyand publicly questioned the EU’s position that the Turnberry agreement with the US was compatible with world trade rules, a view shared by most experts, given the bloc lowered tariffs only on American goods, potentially breaching non-discrimination principles.

“Her job was to offer recommendations but the decision is taken at the political level,” said the first official.

“She has been very loyal to the EU and served four different trade commissioners very successfully,” they said.

Weyand rose to prominence as the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator between 2016 and 2019. She will be succeeded at DG Trade on June 1 by Ditte Juul Jørgensen, a longtime Commission official currently heading the energy department.

What to watch today

1. Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Technology Henna Virkkunen joins a meeting of EU telecommunications ministers in Cyprus.

2. Energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen meets France’s economy minister Roland Lescure in Paris.

Now read these