The podcast welcomes the New Year with a spirited discussion about Europe's response to the U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Will the EU, France or the U.K. emerge as the power broker between Washington and Tehran or are Europe and its leaders mere bystanders? The podcast crew members — Andrew Gray in Brussels, Rym Momtaz in Paris, Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin and Annabelle Dickson in London — also reveal the issues they expect to dominate the political agenda in 2020, a...
Jan 09, 2020•37 min•Ep. 148
In the last episode of 2019, the EU Confidential podcast crew selects their top political moments of the year — from the launch of the Brexit party in the U.K., to the Ibiza affair that toppled the Austrian government, and finally to the sidelines of an EU summit and a rare, livestreamed look at the art of the backroom chat. Our Artificial Intelligence Correspondent Janosch Delcker takes us on a deep dive into deepfakes — as manipulated videos start to cause political turbulence around the world...
Dec 19, 2019•37 min•Ep. 147
This week's podcast comes from the EU summit in Brussels, where new European Council President Charles Michel claimed agreement on the Continent going climate-neutral by 2050 — but Poland has other ideas. POLITICO's climate reporter Paola Tamma, budget reporter Lili Bayer, chief Brussels correspondent David Herszenhorn and EU editor Andrew Gray break down the big issues behind the summit. They also look at the implications for the EU's ambitions to be the world's climate leader and for another ...
Dec 13, 2019•35 min•Ep. 146
The U.K. general election is the focus for a special edition of POLITICO'S EU Confidential podcast. Our team of journalists looks at the possible outcomes from both U.K. and EU perspectives. What are the most likely scenarios and what would they mean for the U.K., the EU and future relations between the two? Kate Day and Annabelle Dickson of POLITICO's U.K. team are joined by Chief Europe Correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig and EU Editor Andrew Gray. We also have an on-the-ground report from a ke...
Dec 09, 2019•32 min•Ep. 145
It wouldn't be a meeting of world leaders these days without a spat or two, and NATO's 70th anniversary celebration near London was no exception. POLITICO's Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz, David Herszenhorn and Emilio Casalicchio were on the spot to give us the inside scoop on the hot mic moments, the Trump-Macron slugfest and the future of the alliance. To understand more about the Macron mindset, our own Rym spoke on the phone with Gérard Araud, the outspoken former French ambassador to the United St...
Dec 05, 2019•28 min•Ep. 144
In the new episode of EU Confidential, we talk migration and security with the EU’s outgoing commissioner for home affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos. The Greek politician doesn’t mince words on migration, saying European leaders are quick to blame everyone else even though the issue is a “shared responsibility.” As a senior figure in the European People’s Party, Avramopoulos also discusses Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s place in the EU’s center-right alliance: “Mr. Orbán is doing whatever ...
Nov 28, 2019•33 min•Ep. 143
The podcast crew debates the EU’s response — or lack thereof — to the wave of protests rocking Iran and Tehran's latest violation of the Iran nuclear deal. POLITICO's chief Brussels correspondent David Herszenhorn joins the panel to report that French President Emmanuel Macron's comments on NATO suffering from "brain death" are still ringing in leaders' ears. The big question, after a meeting of foreign ministers at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels this week, is: Can European countries ag...
Nov 21, 2019•37 min•Ep. 142
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks about the divisions that emerged in Europe after the Cold War — and what the EU can do about them. We also debate a controversial plan to break the EU's deadlock on new members with the man behind the proposal, Gerald Knaus of the European Stability Initiative think tank. The podcast crew takes a closer look at Emmanuel Macron's worldview and the reaction to his big foreign policy interview, in which he declared NATO to be brain dead. And w...
Nov 14, 2019•35 min•Ep. 141
In the new EU Confidential podcast, the EU's outgoing budget chief Günther Oettinger opens up on his decade in Brussels. POLITICO's Carmen Paun has the scoop on Romania's new nominee for the European Commission. From London, Annabelle Dickson has a primer on electronic election interference in the U.K. ahead of its December vote. And Matt Karnitschnig sums up the mood in Germany amid celebrations to mark 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which include a visit from U.S. Secretary of Sta...
Nov 07, 2019•31 min•Ep. 140
In the brand new episode of EU Confidential, we talk China, populism and British politics. With Emmanuel Macron heading for China and top German officials in open disagreement over Huawei’s 5G technology, POLITICO's Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz and Matthew Karnitschnig discuss whether Europe has a credible strategy for dealing with Beijing. Following the success of populist parties in German and Italian regional elections, we ask if Europe's political mainstream was too quick to write off the far rig...
Oct 31, 2019•38 min•Ep. 139
In the latest episode of EU Confidential, we talk EU enlargement, Jean-Claude Juncker's legacy, Brexit and Syria. And we have an interview with Spain's point man for the EU. The podcast panel tackles the repercussions of the European Council’s controversial decision not to start EU membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania. As Juncker gets ready to bow out as European Commission chief, we ask how he'll be remembered in Brussels and across the Continent. We also discuss the geopolitical i...
Oct 24, 2019•35 min•Ep. 138
This special episode of EU Confidential takes you inside the European Council summit in Brussels which signed off on the brand new Brexit deal. POLITICO’s Annabelle Dickson, Rym Momtaz and Andrew Gray break down the deal and map out what happens next. We also give you a flavor of what it’s like to be inside the summit bubble covering an event like this. We speak to European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen and Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec on the red carpet as they make th...
Oct 18, 2019•34 min•Ep. 137
Commission drama, impeachment battles, countries struggling to leave and join the EU, and fights over transparency in politics — they’re all here in our latest episode. France's Commission pick Sylvie Goulard is out. It’s a big blow to Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron, who proposed the former MEP to take on a beefed-up internal market portfolio. David Herszenhorn, POLITICO’s chief correspondent, and Andrew Gray, EU editor, look at the stories o...
Oct 10, 2019•37 min•Ep. 136
In the special branded episode of EU Confidential Goes Green by Bayer: The episode focuses on digital tools being used on European farms, and the new technologies that are around the corner. Featuring interviews with Jan Huitema, a Dutch MEP and farmer, Daniel Azevedo, a director with farming association Copa Cogeca, and Philipp-Andreas Schmidt, head of Global Digital Farming Policy & Public Affairs at Bayer, they discuss technology, sustainability and the future of European agriculture. The pan...
Oct 07, 2019•36 min•Ep. 135
On our latest episode of the new EU Confidential, POLITICO's Annabelle Dickson unpacks Boris Johnson's new Brexit plan. Meanwhile in Brussels, confirmation hearings for new European Commissioners are well underway. Incoming Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has already lost two members of her team. Will more follow? And POLITICO's chief Europe correspondent Matt Karnitschnig calls in from his U.S. tour to report on how the Continent is viewed from the other side of the Atlantic these days. O...
Oct 03, 2019•34 min•Ep. 134
This week’s episode takes us to London, New York and around the Continent. We start in Brussels, where members of the European Parliament rejected the Romanian and Hungarian nominees for the next European Commission over concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Just back from the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Rym Momtaz takes us behind the scenes of Emmanuel Macron’s push to defuse tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Matt Karnitschnig is in Vienna to preview this weekend’s general el...
Sep 26, 2019•39 min•Ep. 133
In our just-released podcast, we review the week in European politics and speak to the president of a small country with big geopolitical challenges. "Protecting the European way of life” and other curious job titles in the next European Commission are causing ever more consternation and confusion, particularly in the European Parliament. Our quartet of journalists from the EU's key capitals debate those concerns and asks what the kerfuffle tells us about how President-elect Ursula von der Leyen...
Sep 19, 2019•35 min•Ep. 132
In a special edition of the EU Confidential podcast, U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland speaks with POLITICO’s Ryan Heath about the state of relations between Europe and the United States. Donald Trump’s man in Brussels talks about the prospects of a relationship “reset,” trade tension, digital tax and much more. Sondland has particularly strong words for the EU’s incoming trade commissioner, Phil Hogan. He brands recent comments about Trump by the Irishman “very condescending.” On France...
Sep 15, 2019•25 min•Ep. 131
The new episode of POLITICO's EU Confidential podcast is part of our "goes green" series. And the timing could hardly be better, with Ursula von der Leyen this week unveiling her team for the new European Commission — featuring a vice president for a European Green Deal. Our quartet of journalists from the EU's key capitals — Andrew Gray in Brussels, Rym Momtaz in Paris, Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin and Annabelle Dickson in London — looks at von der Leyen's lineup (including some strange job t...
Sep 12, 2019•40 min•Ep. 130
Our brand new podcast focuses on the Brexit drama in London — but not just from a British perspective. POLITICO journalists Rym Momtaz (based in Paris), Matthew Karnitschnig (Berlin), Annabelle Dickson (London) and Andrew Gray (Brussels) bring you insights from across the Continent. With previous host Ryan Heath now in a new role at POLITICO in the U.S., this quartet from Europe’s key capitals will be your regular guides through European politics. Annabelle tells us what it was like to be in the...
Sep 05, 2019•38 min•Ep. 129
In this episode the POLITICO team turns the tables on Ryan Heath, who finishes as host of EU Confidential this episode, and interviews him about the high, lows and changes he has seen in EU politics over the past 12 years. From next week the podcast will be hosted by Annabelle Dickson, Rym Momtaz and Matthew Karnitschnig. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 30, 2019•40 min•Ep. 128
Ryan Heath interviews Megan Richards, a Canadian who spent three decades working for the EU, rising to be one of its top officials in digital and later energy policy. It's a short episode this week, all the better to let you enjoy your holidays. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 22, 2019•21 min•Ep. 127
This week we’re going Green again: Ryan Heath talks to Kristian Ruby who runs Eurelectric and the Electrification Alliance, as a way to clean our energy systems. After that, POLITICO's Anca Gurzu takes a hydrogen-powered car for a wild test drive. It's all a world a way from where the EU started: as a coal trading community. After the greenest EU election ever, the question in Europe now isn't whether to go green, but how fast we should get there. We have a very special podcast panel this week. ...
Aug 08, 2019•41 min•Ep. 126
As Boris Johnson's begins his term as U.K. prime minister on a fast and furious Brexit course, Annabelle Dickson asks the Conservative leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, and a group of U.K. Parliament staffers, what they think about a seemingly endless list of complaints and two official independent reports of bullying, harassment, and management in the U.K. Parliament, and what can be done to improve the institution's culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...
Aug 01, 2019•38 min•Ep. 125
Best-selling author Peter May talks about his political thriller set in Brussels, The Man With No Face, just republished four decades after he wrote it. Forget the heatwave sweeping the Continent and dive into a dark and wintry world of intrigue and murder as May describes the Brussels bubble of 40 years ago that formed the backdrop for the book. May talks about what has changed in Brussels and European politics since those days — and what has remained remarkably similar. The podcast panel bring...
Jul 25, 2019•36 min•Ep. 124
Mette Grolleman runs the biggest lobbying office in Brussels — FleishmanHillard — and isn’t tempted to return to the Berlaymont to work for her old boss Margrethe Vestager: “When you leave, you have to leave,” she told EU Confidential. Grolleman’s new goal is to bring nuance to how outsiders understand the EU. The different sides of the Brussels bubble need each other to deliver a functioning whole, she said: “We are an ecosystem ... I valued [lobbyist input] when I was on the inside.” Fleishman...
Jul 18, 2019•32 min•Ep. 123
In our latest podcast episode, we discuss the life of a lobbyist, the latest in the Brussels hustle, and the recent transatlantic twitterstorm. This week’s feature interview is with Paul Adamson, the godfather of Brussels lobbying. He talks to Ryan about his 40-year career in the EU capital, how Boris Johnson hasn’t changed since his own whippersnapper days on the continent, and why lobbyists get a bad name. We spoke before U.K. ambassador Kim Darroch offered his resignation Wednesday. The regul...
Jul 11, 2019•33 min•Ep. 122
A surprise European Commission presidential nominee landed on Brussels this week: the polished and much-criticised defense minister of Germany, Ursula von der Leyen. The job is now hers to lose, and she might indeed lose it. German greens and socialists are furious about how the deal went down. Our main interview is with Mark MacGann: he’s a 25-year veteran of the EU’s tech and telecoms scene who runs Moonshot Ventures. We talk EU reform and how ended up needing 24/7 bodyguards during his time a...
Jul 04, 2019•37 min•Ep. 121
In the latest in our occasional series focusing on green issues, we ask whether capitalism can save the planet. The European Commission held a sustainable finance conference this week, and two of our reporters went along to get beyond the hype. Tune in to hear them interview some of the conference participants, including the Commission's financial markets chief. On the podcast panel, we talk about the proponents and detractors of the 2050 climate-neutrality target discussed at last week’s EU sum...
Jun 27, 2019•46 min•Ep. 120
David Miliband speaks to POLITICO’s Brexit editor James Randerson in our feature interview this week. It’s delicious timing, given the U.K. is getting a new prime minister and the EU is getting a new slate of leaders. Had history taken just a slightly different path, Miliband could have been a big player in those events. He talks about Boris Johnson, why he thinks U.K. Labour’s Brexit policy is a disaster, the time he met the Belgian who saved his grandmother and aunt from Nazi concentration cam...
Jun 20, 2019•34 min•Ep. 119
