Belgium in Brief: No such thing as 'back to normal'

Good afternoon, goeiemiddag, bonjour!

This morning, Europe woke up to a big American surprise. While Democrats were expected to win at least one body of Congress during the midterm elections last night, few people saw this landslide victory coming.

The Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and even managed to flip deep-red states such as Texas and Kansas.

Many Europeans are celebrating this outcome, seeing it as a sign that things might soon go back to the way they were before US President Donald Trump took office and thoroughly shook up the US-EU relationship. However, experts are calling for caution.

As our editor Alexander Chituc reports, some fear that it may be too late to go “back to normal,” and the damage may already be done.

European leaders have learned an important lesson from Trump: that they should not let their policies depend on two-year election cycles in the US. Is this the end of the “Trump effect”? And will these midterm results change anything for Europe? Read more here.

Closer to home, we also have a story about a new AI data centre coming to Brussels soon. Built in the north of the city in Neder-Over-Heembeek, the centre is predicted to consume 140 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity per year in its first phase – or around 3% of Brussels’ total electricity consumption.

Due to their high electricity consumption, data centers are among the fastest-growing sources of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to concerns about electricity consumption, there are also questions about water use (to the amount of more than 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools per year), heat waste, and potentially even PFAS forever chemicals. Read the full story here.

Next up, if you’ve been wondering what has been happening with the cyber-attacks on Belgian supermarket refrigerators, our reporter Anas El Baye has a story for you.

While Belgium’s cybersecurity authority says that warnings issued before the attacks helped limit the damage, one expert told Anas that the incidents could have been prevented altogether. Get the details here.

And lastly, we have a story by reporter Christopher Richards about how the OECD is pouring extra oil on the fire that are Belgium’s explosive budget negotiations. On Tuesday, the organisation argued that reducing Belgium's deficit should rely primarily on expenditure restraint and efficiency gains, rather than taxes.

How well that suggestion will be received by the parties already fighting over subsidies, taxes and cuts remains up in the air. Christopher tells you what’s going on.

And as always, if you have any comments, tips or suggestions, you can find me at m.chini@brusselstimes.com.

Have a good day!

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Belgium in Brief: No such thing as 'back to normal'

1. ‘We cannot trust the US’: The European lesson from America’s midterm landslide

2. New data centre in Brussels to account for 3% of region’s total electricity consumption

3. Belgian supermarkets were warned of cyber risks. Could the attacks have been prevented?

4. More cuts over tax rises: OECD weighs in on Belgium’s budget debate

5. One in three Belgian firms expect their workforce to shrink next year

6. Former Schaerbeek city councillor De Herde to appear in court on suspicion of rape

7. Violent role-playing in games flagged as tool for terrorism, Europol informs