While the German logistics giant cuts thousands of jobs in the name of profitability, the Brussels administration plans an expansion, and the Polish real estate market becomes fully transparent. Europe is searching for savings, losing privacy and job stability along the way.
The Account of Grievances and Profits. Europe has entered a phase of radical balance sheet restructuring. The most glaring example comes from Germany, where DB Cargo has announced a drastic recovery plan. CEO Bernhard Osburg leaves no room for illusions: the company must eliminate 6,200 full-time positions to achieve the coveted „black zeros” by 2026.
The cuts are surgical and will cover administration, planning, production, and sales. The reduction will affect 44% of the current personnel in Germany, leaving only 8,000 employees in the company. This is a cold calculation in which traditional industries – chemical, automotive, and steel – give way to a new European integration strategy.
At the same time as Bernhard Osburg fights for survival without a state-funded IV drip, a game of a completely different dynamic is unfolding in Brussels. The European Commission plans to hire 2,500 additional officials, which is expected to cost taxpayers 1.4 billion euros. However, this administrative expansion has met with stiff resistance from a group of nine countries, including Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.
The tension between the drive for savings at the national level and the growth of EU structures has been a constant element of debate since the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009. The current dispute over staffing levels is taking place in the shadow of negotiations over the Multiannual Financial Framework.
The protest letter that landed on Commissioner Piotr Serafin's desk is a signal that the days of uncritical funding for bureaucracy are passing. Ministers from the „frugal” states demand efficiency, not new positions, even if EPSO tempts candidates with salaries of around 6,000 euros gross.
Citizen in a Glass Trap. The pursuit of market efficiency is also reflected in digitalization. In Poland, as of February 13, 2026, a revolution in access to asset data has taken place. Thanks to a legal amendment, the Real Estate Price Register (RCN) has become free and accessible to every citizen through map services.
The initiative of Prof. Waldemar Izdebski removed financial barriers but opened a Pandora's box regarding privacy. The Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) rightly warned of the risk of de-anonymization. Today, anyone can check how much their neighbor paid, which Jarosław Kaczyński experienced firsthand when his surroundings in Żoliborz became the subject of public analysis.
Transparency favors the market but leaves the citizen exposed. Data enters the system within 30 days of a visit to the notary. This is a powerful tool for analysts, but also for criminals who gain insight into the financial status of potential victims.
Job Reductions at DB Cargo: Current state: 14000, Planned layoffs: 6200, Target state: 7800
Systemic Mimicry. The threat is not theoretical. The National Revenue Administration (KAS) is sounding the alarm about a wave of cybercrime exploiting state authority. Scammers, impersonating government offices, send out fake payment notices and place QR codes on car windshields, imitating parking fines.
The mechanism is simple: time pressure and fear of authority. The victim, scanning the code, lands on a fake payment panel, losing their life savings. CERT Polska and the police are recording an increase in such incidents, showing the dark side of the digitalization of public services.
On one hand, the state opens its resources, as in the case of the Real Estate Price Register. On the other – citizens must maintain paranoid vigilance to distinguish the real e-Tax Office from a perfectly prepared trap.
„Wir richten Vertrieb, Planung, Disposition und Produktion europäischer aus und bauen DB Cargo als starken europäischen Player auf der Schiene.” (We are aligning sales, planning, dispatching, and production more clearly at the European level and building DB Cargo as a leading European player on the tracks.) — Bernhard Osburg
The Costly Illusion of Security. One could argue that these changes are necessary. DB Cargo cannot generate losses indefinitely, and the real estate market requires transparency to curb speculation. The European Commission needs staff to meet new geopolitical challenges.
However, this technocratic optimism ignores the human factor. Laying off 6,200 people is not just an adjustment in Excel, but a social shock for thousands of families. Full asset transparency in the RCN is the end of the anonymity that was once a middle-class standard.
Efficiency has become the supreme religion. We sacrifice job stability at Deutsche Bahn and privacy in Polish land and mortgage registers for it. In return, we receive systems that are more efficient, but also more ruthless and susceptible to digital manipulation.
The future is painted in the colors of „black zeros” and glass houses. We will know everything about the prices of our neighbors' apartments and the budget deficits of the railways. The only unknown will be whether there is still room for error or privacy in this transparent, optimized world.
1.4 billion EUR — the cost to EU taxpayers for hiring new EC officials
Perspektywy mediów: A leftist perspective might criticize the mass layoffs at DB Cargo as evidence of the brutality of capitalism, while simultaneously supporting the transparency of asset registers. Right-wing commentators might praise the cuts in EU bureaucracy but express concerns about the surveillance of citizens through open real estate price registers.
Syncope RCN