The Brief – The shame of being 'daddy’s' favour ite

AI has yet to develop a tool to measure dignity. That should come as a relief to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The former Dutch prime minister, who took the helm of NATO earlier this year, plumbed new depths of obsequiousness at the alliance’s summit this week, transforming it into a collective genuflection ritual for Donald Trump.
The climax came during Rutte’s joint appearance with Trump, during which he referred to the American president as "daddy", spawning a torrent of memes. Asked afterwards about whether he viewed European leaders as his children, a good-natured Trump, still beaming over his meeting with the Dutch king and queen (“beautiful people”), responded that Rutte appeared to have taken a shine to him – "I think he likes me!"
He added his own touch to the filial jocularity, telling reporters: "If he doesn't... I'll come back and I'll hit him hard." Cue polite (nervous) laughs.
Europe’s sigh of relief over the summit bonhomie echoed from The Hague to Athens. Yet while it’s no doubt good news that the meeting didn’t go off the rails, as other encounters with Trump have done, it is also worth remembering that sycophancy is not a strategy.
Ultimately, Rutte’s orgy of self-humiliation did little more than win Europe a bit of time. How much is anyone’s guess. Even though NATO members agreed on ambitious new spending targets to better counter the Russian threat, they have no idea how to achieve them.
Recent history suggests that at the first sign of a softening of the American position on NATO (see Biden administration), European leaders begin closing their purses. Given the current state of the European economy and state finances, that reflex will be all the stronger.

Clinical consolidation – The European Commission wants to position the EU as the world’s most attractive hub for life sciences by 2030, starting with the creation of a single market for clinical trials, according to a draft strategy seen by Euractiv.
Commission coup: cancelled – The EU’s national conservative group, jointly led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Poland’s Law & Justice party, is divided over a bid to bring down Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission.

Ireland goes cold turkey – Speaking at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin called for “the strongest possible measures against vaping,” warning that the industry was deploying “the same tactics designed by the tobacco industry” to target young consumers. “All the same issues we had to deal with in respect of cigarettes, we have to deal with vaping,” he said.
Are you 18 or older? – As porn platforms continue to push back against age verification requirements in Europe, the UK’s Internet regulator has announced that major adult content companies have agreed to age checks on their websites in the UK from 25 July.

Today's issue of The Brief was brought to you by Matthew Karnitschnig.