With a year to go until Brexit, we take stock of where things stand and what lies ahead. The European Parliament's Brexit Coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, talks to EU Confidential's executive producer, Andrew Gray, about the biggest Brexit challenges and how the Parliament is dealing with them. Verhofstadt talks about his plan to avoid a "Swiss nightmare" of too many post-Brexit agreements with the U.K. and warns the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland may still prove the to...
Mar 29, 2018•38 min•Ep. 46
Russia, artificial intelligence and MEPs who are famous for the wrong reasons all feature in this week’s episode. Host Ryan Heath talks to the foreign minister of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius, about how the EU should handle Moscow, following Vladimir Putin’s re-election and the Salisbury nerve agent attack. Ryan also chats with Janosch Delcker, POLITICO’s recently appointed AI correspondent. The first such correspondent at a major media outlet, Janosch talks about POLITICO’s AI Summit and how ar...
Mar 22, 2018•31 min•Ep. 45
On this episode Ryan talks to Giorgi Margvelashvili, the president of Georgia who is a doctor of philosophy and was in town for the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Forum. Following that Michael O’Leary, the gruff CEO and founder of Ryanair, who's discovering his softer side explains why Brexit makes him disappointed and how to solve holiday delays due to air traffic control strikes. Then we’ve got a fun panel with the Brussels brains trust, covering everything from Marine Le Pen’s missteps to ou...
Mar 15, 2018•39 min•Ep. 44
Ryan Heath talks to Marianne Thyssen, the European Commissioner for employment, about how she wants to overhaul EU policies on jobs, education and training to face up to globalization. She also talks about the surprise in the College of Commissioners when Martin Selmayr was nominated as the Commission’s new secretary-general. Lulwah Al Khater, the first female spokesperson for the Qatari ministry of foreign affairs, drops by to tell us about her job and the challenges facing her country. Highlig...
Mar 08, 2018•48 min•Ep. 43
Tony Blair came to Brussels this week with a clear message, delivered in this week's interview: I’m trying to stop Brexit, and there’s only one shot left — European immigration controls. If that idea or a second British Brexit referendum fails, Europe will be left with an angrier bigger version of Singapore undercutting its business and social model on its doorstep. Highlights from the show: Hard Brexit will mean big, angry European version of Singapore: If Brexit continues on its current course...
Mar 01, 2018•37 min•Ep. 42
This week's episode features a review of the Munich Security Conference and an interview with Ben Hodges, who recently retired as commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe. Also on the podcast: our panelists give their verdict on the big new job for Martin Selmayr, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's powerful chief of staff, look forward to the Italian election and once again test their knowledge of members of the European Parliament. The Munich Security Conference, the premi...
Feb 22, 2018•38 min•Ep. 41
This week's special guest is Alexander Stubb, the former Finnish prime minister and ex-MEP who is now vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB). Stubb talks about how the bank will handle Brexit and how it will play an increasing role as the EU tries to do "more with less" in its next long-term budget. The podcast panel discusses the Oxfam sex scandal, the controversial Spitzenkandidat system for picking the Commission president and the intriguing backstory of a notable MEP. Highlight...
Feb 15, 2018•36 min•Ep. 40
EU politics this week was all about shrinkage and enlargement. The shrinkage of course is Brexit, with the U.K. government again failing to set out its negotiating position and Michel Barnier sweeping through London to explain the EU's red lines. EU Confidential's featured guest this week is former U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The enlargement — or potential enlargement — comes from the Western Balkans. The European Commission Tuesday issued a strategy that opens the way for top-perform...
Feb 08, 2018•32 min•Ep. 39
It's a bumper episode this week. We hear from POLITICO's man in Prague, Siegfried Mortkowitz, about the good cop-bad cop Euroskeptic routine coming out of the Czech capital, and we catch up with a prime minister, a bank chief and an MEP that Ryan Heath spoke to at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar tells us why he wants his country to be a home for progressive innovation. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development chief Suma Chakrabarti pitched the EBRD ...
Feb 01, 2018•37 min•Ep. 38
We've got the lowdown from Davos in another special edition from the World Economic Forum. The podcast features interviews with two prime ministers — the Netherlands' Mark Rutte and Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki — as well as U.S. investor Bill McGlashan, a champion of social impact investing. Ryan Heath is your host for a show that's both the final edition of our daily Davos Confidential podcasts and the latest weekly episode in our EU Confidential series. Rutte's red lines: The Dutch PM makes cle...
Jan 25, 2018•37 min•Ep. 37
Ryan Heath and Matthew Kaminski look ahead to Theresa May’s appearance in Davos, hot on the heels of speeches by Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron. Also in the daily podcast, they discuss U.S. officials’ reception at the World Economic Forum, ahead of Donald Trump’s arrival. Ryan interviews Werner Hoyer, president of the European Investment Bank and talks to John Harris, POLITICO’s global editor-in-chief, who previews Trump’s speech to the forum on Friday. To get more from the POLITICO team at t...
Jan 24, 2018•18 min•Ep. 36
Direct from Davos in our daily podcast, POLITICO’s Ryan Heath, Florian Eder and Matthew Kaminski look forward to an unofficial Europe day at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, when Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Paolo Gentiloni will all be in action. In keeping with the Europe theme, Ryan and Florian chat to Belgian Deputy Prime Prime Minister Alexander De Croo about the EU’s future, post-rage politics and Brexit. Ryan speaks to Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who explains why h...
Jan 23, 2018•20 min•Ep. 35
Ryan Heath and Florian Eder bring you the latest from the World Economic Forum in Davos in POLITICO’s special daily pop-up podcast. Ryan talks to Arancha González, executive director of the International Trade Centre, who says the world needs to up its game when it comes to trade talks. He also catches up with Brett Solomon, a digital rights advocate who explains why he’s come to Davos this year. Ryan and Florian also discuss who’s battling for an audience with Donald Trump and share some behind...
Jan 22, 2018•21 min•Ep. 34
Davos Confidential: In the first of POLITICO’s daily pop-up podcasts from the World Economic Forum, Ryan Heath and Florian Eder preview this year’s gathering of the global elite. From the Crystal Awards to the Panda scale for speeches, Ryan and Florian have the inside track from the snow-covered slopes of the Swiss resort. They also unpack the decision by Germany’s Social Democrats to back coalition talks with Angela Merkel, who will be in Davos on Wednesday. As well as the daily podcast, Ryan a...
Jan 21, 2018•12 min•Ep. 33
This week's show features an interview with Estonia's President Kersti Kaljulaid, the first head of state to appear on the podcast. Kaljulaid explains why Estonia wants to pay more to the EU, reveals a promise Jean-Claude Juncker made to her about the post-Brexit EU budget and talks about how Estonia is struggling with Russia's turn to militarism. POLITICO Managing Editor Florian Eder joins us to preview the World Economic Forum in Davos January 22-26. Sign up to POLITICO's daily Davos Playbook ...
Jan 18, 2018•33 min•Ep. 32
Host Ryan Heath interviews Daniel Ek, the CEO of global music pioneer Spotify. The music world was a notorious graveyard for online entrepreneurs: until Spotify. In this episode, Ek explains why he thinks Stockholm-based Spotify is different to Silicon Valley companies, what he wants from EU regulators, and becomes the first major tech CEO to give his full support to the #metoo movement. Ek also spills the beans on his favorite politician, his first 2018 resolution, and how firing 20 staff as a ...
Jan 11, 2018•47 min•Ep. 31
Kaja Tael, Estonia's ambassador to the EU, reviews her country's six months running the bloc's rotating presidency. Host Ryan Heath also talks to POLITICO's Christian Oliver about the challenges for Bulgaria's 2018 EU presidency, from domestic infighting to far-right ministers. Estonia is northern, not eastern, European: Tael says Estonia is a bridge between different camps in the EU, but sees itself primarily as closer to a northern or Baltic bloc rather than a central or eastern European one. ...
Jan 04, 2018•38 min•Ep. 30
Episode 27 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast features a review of the year from POLITICO reporters and an interview with NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jamie Shea, a Brussels veteran of almost 40 years. With regular host Ryan Heath on holiday, news editor Andrew Gray talks to Shea about the alliance's future challenges, the EU's new defense pact and his role as frontman when NATO went to war for the first time, over Kosovo in 1999. Looking back: POLITICO policy reporters pick out ...
Dec 21, 2017•42 min•Ep. 29
Episode 26 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast has just been released, featuring a deep dive into the EU's capital city. We discuss how to improve Brussels as a city with regional minister Pascal Smet and debate the thorny topic of racial diversity in the EU bubble. Brussels the "whore": There's no doubt Smet has a way with words. He compares Brussels, a city and region he hopes to transform, "with a whore, with a prostitute." He says the city is "attractive and at the same time unattractive. ...
Dec 14, 2017•43 min•Ep. 28
Former European Council President Herman Van Rompuy talks to host Ryan Heath about the future of the EU in this week's episode. EU reform and Brexit haiku: Since leaving office, Van Rompuy has been shepherding a major report on the future of the EU, the New Pact for Europe, in the name of several leading foundations and think tanks. In a challenge almost as daunting, he has composed a haiku about Brexit especially for EU Confidential listeners. Hear the haiku — in English and in Dutch — in this ...
Dec 07, 2017•39 min•Ep. 27
This week's show features back-to-back interviews with the European commissioner for health, Vytenis Andriukaitis, who is also a heart surgeon, and Bernhard Uhl, the head of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Glyphosate politics: Speaking just after the EU reapproved the use of glyphosate, Uhl, whose EFSA agency concluded there is no health risk associated with agricultural use of the weedkiller, said it's nevertheless legitimate to discuss what kind of value system should support our ag...
Nov 30, 2017•49 min•Ep. 26
Episode 23 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast features Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee. This week, we've got two feature interviews for you. As well as Bach, there's Adecco Group board member Stephan Howeg. We also talked to POLITICO's Florian Eder about the recent political developments in Germany. German twists and turns: Florian Eder gives us a recap of what happened last week when the liberal FDP party quit the German coalition talks after weeks of explor...
Nov 23, 2017•43 min•Ep. 25
Episode 22 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast features Eldar Sætre, the CEO of Norway's oil and gas company Statoil. We spoke to Sætre on November 9, after the COP23 global climate conference had kicked off in Bonn, Germany, but before Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund proposed dropping investments in oil and gas stocks. We also chatted with POLITICO's Sara Stefanini, who has spent the week in Bonn reporting on the climate conference. Paging Rex Tillerson: Sætre says the future of hi...
Nov 16, 2017•39 min•Ep. 24
Host Ryan Heath interviews Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the head of Greece's New Democracy party and opposition leader in parliament. The outsider and the Mitsotakis dynasty: The opposition leader is the son of a former Greek prime minister, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, yet ran for the party leadership with virtually no support from fellow MPs. Instead, he won in an open primary thanks to support from ordinary Greek center-right voters rather than party elites. “My career is not the typical career of a prof...
Nov 09, 2017•33 min•Ep. 23
Ryan Heath interviews Rolf Falter, a historian who has worked across the Belgian and EU political landscapes: from adviser, to journalist, to get-out-the-vote advocate, to author of a new book on Europe. The dangers of absolute identity: Falter argues that one of the good things about fragmented Belgian identities is that they show how difficult and dangerous it can be to identify 100 percent with one region, one party, one identity. "None of us is a hundred percent British, or 100 percent Germa...
Nov 02, 2017•37 min•Ep. 22
Episode 19 of EU Confidential features a special discussion on the issue of sexual harassment and assault in the EU Brussels bubble. The podcast also includes an interview with European Commission Vice President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, in which we discuss everything from batteries to Brexit. Harassment allegations: Joanna Maycock from the European Women's Lobby explains why she thinks the wave of recent allegations can lead to positive change. Host Ryan Heath and panelist Ailbhe Finn ta...
Oct 26, 2017•46 min•Ep. 21
Episode 18 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast features an interview with European Commissioner Vĕra Jourová, who leads the EU's work on data protection among her many responsibilities as commissioner for justice, consumer rights and gender equality. We also remember Daphne Caruana Galizia: Controversial and crusading, Malta's most famous journalist Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb Monday afternoon. EU Confidential speaks with Paul Dallison and Harry Cooper, two POLITICO journalist who...
Oct 19, 2017•37 min•Ep. 20
Episode 17 of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast features back-to-back interviews with Karl-Heinz Lambertz, president of the European Committee of the Regions, and George Kaminis, the center-left mayor Athens. Theresa May — Not dead yet: We start by getting out of the Brexit weeds in a conversation with Paul Taylor, POLITICO's Europe-at-large columnist. Taylor takes us through the debate in London following Theresa May's refusal to say whether she would vote for Brexit today, and argues that the...
Oct 12, 2017•43 min•Ep. 19
Host Ryan Heath talks to POLITICO's chief Europe correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig about a homegrown journalism experiment: POLITICO's first Global Policy Lab. We convened labor and economics experts, executives and union representatives, along with regular POLITICO readers, to develop stories about how Europe can engineer growth, and in particular to develop real policy prescriptions for how Germany's old world manufacturing base could survive the country's demographic crisis. Robots to the re...
Oct 05, 2017•42 min•Ep. 18
In a special episode this week, we feature interviews from both sides of the Catalan independence debate ahead of the Catalan regional government's referendum, planned for Sunday. Ryan Heath interviews Jorge Toledo Albiñana, Spain's secretary of state for European affairs, who makes the case for Spanish unity, as well as Amadeu Altafaj, the Catalan government's representative to the EU, who accuses Madrid of using repressive tactics that breach EU law. Ryan also speaks to POLITICO Europe's manag...
Sep 28, 2017•46 min•Ep. 17
