If we’re not yet living in 1984, then we’re closer than ever.

The European Union wants to “temporarily” mandate spying on personal conversations in order to “protect” children. By doing this, it is effectively banning end-to-end messaging encryption, allowing potential thieves and murderers to read our conversations. If the EU doesn’t backtrack on this, I expect principled communication companies like Posteo to move to freër lands and give this law the finger.

But the EU is not done yet. Under the pretext of “beating financial crime” it wants to ban pseudonymous cryptocurrency wallets. Since the EU already has a database of gun owners, muggers will be able to find out which unarmed individual to hold hostage for money. The EU must backtrack on this if it wants its economy to grow and its citizens to live a peaceful life.

Stopping the introduction of these regulations isn’t enough—they are a sign of a wider problem. The EU is too powerful and needs to be reformed.