It’s not just spyware scandals: EU is funding the industry that spies on Europeans (euobserver.com)

• EU subsidies flow to firms developing advanced surveillance software.
• Spyware deployed against domestic journalists and political actors.
• Structural tension between EU funding and democratic rights protections.

"European Union taxpayer funds are being channeled into the surveillance technology sector, facilitating the development of software tools increasingly used against journalists, activists, and politicians within Europe. This paradoxical funding structure undermines the EU’s own digital autonomy and privacy frameworks. By supporting firms that create invasive spyware, institutional financial mechanisms are inadvertently eroding the democratic resilience they are mandated to defend."