With just a week to go until the European election and the campaign in full gear, we're focusing on how the vote will impact key EU policies such as health, energy, climate, technology and defense. Will they be affected by the shake-up of the bloc's political landscape and the arrival of new MEPs and commissioners — or will continuity with the policy priorities of the last five years prevail? And what about the money to finance new and super costly defense ambitions and the green transition? Wil...
May 31, 2024•37 min•Ep. 372
This is your essential (and entertaining!) guide to the upcoming European election — everything you've wanted to know but been too afraid to ask. With the crucial vote just two weeks away, we reached out to you, our European and American listeners, on social media and collected the most pressing election-related questions. Both veterans of the Brussels bubble and political novices seem to be wondering about everything from: can you vote online to does it even matter? Host Sarah Wheaton and her p...
May 24, 2024•40 min•Ep. 371
Ursula von der Leyen made a promise this week: if she secures another term as president of the European Commission, she will prioritize beefing up the EU's defenses against malicious disinformation from Moscow. It's a top-of-agenda issue for many in Brussels and across the bloc, with less than a month until the European election and hostile actors using sophisticated tools such as generative AI. In this episode, host Sarah Wheaton and her guests unpack some of the latest examples of interference...
May 17, 2024•35 min•Ep. 370
As recent national elections in several European countries have shown, far-right voters no longer fit the stereotype of the angry, old white man, but now often include women, young people and even migrants. In this episode we unpack what drives voters to abandon the mainstream and more traditional party loyalties for the far right, and how poverty, or fear of it, motivates typical supporters of the AfD in Germany, Geert Wilder's PVV in the Netherlands, or Chega in Portugal. Host Sarah Wheaton is...
May 10, 2024•39 min•Ep. 369
It was a rare chance to see all the leading candidates from Europe's main political parties go head-to-head in a presidential-style debate to become the next head of the European Commission. With just over a month to go until the European Parliament election, eight politicians met in the Dutch city of Maastricht and spent an hour and a half answering questions on key issues such as climate change, defense and European democracy. If you missed it, don't worry — we've picked out the key moments an...
May 03, 2024•39 min•Ep. 368
Since the 2019 election this European Parliament has had to deal with various challenges, from Brexit and Covid-19 to the war in Ukraine and scandals such as Qatargate. At the same time it has managed to legislate on key issues such as climate change, AI and migration. In this episode we look back at the highs and lows of the EU legislature's last five years. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by a roundtable of POLITICO colleagues: data reporter Hanne Cokelaere; sustainability reporter Louise Guillot...
Apr 26, 2024•37 min•Ep. 367
In this episode we unpack the EU's new buzzword and the main point of discussion at this week's European Council summit: competitiveness. We also bring you another new buzzword from Brussels this week: Bolshewokism. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO's chief Brussels correspondent, Barbara Moens, to recap the leaders' summit and their attempt to make the bloc's economy more competitive with regards China and the United States. We also discuss former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta's ne...
Apr 19, 2024•41 min•Ep. 366
With just weeks to go until the European Parliament election, we're bringing you the state of play. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Elisa Braun, POLITICO's Brussels correspondent, and Nicholas Vinocur, POLITICO's editor at large, to discuss the many political challenges facing EPP lead candidate Ursula von der Leyen: "Pfizergate," "Piepergate" and the internal rebellion by a group of fellow commissioners. Later, a panel of keen election watchers — Eddy Wax, who covers the European Parliament for...
Apr 12, 2024•38 min•Ep. 365
In this episode, we unpack the growing urgency among EU leaders to defeat Russia's Vladimir Putin. Remember the old Latin saying: si vis pacem, para bellum (if you want peace, prepare for war)? We discuss what that might mean today. We also explain what's at stake in presidential runoff elections in Slovakia and round out our episode exploring why chocolate prices in Europe are skyrocketing and what "greedflation" has to do with it. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Barbara Moens, POLITICO's chief...
Mar 29, 2024•34 min•Ep. 364
As EU leaders received a stark warning about the climate risks facing the bloc, the European Commission caved to farmer protests and demands to slash environmental requirements. Host Sarah Wheaton talks to POLITICO's climate policy reporter Zia Weise about the recent report on climate risks facing the bloc, the first of its kind from the European Environment Agency. We dive into the sobering findings and the reactions. And then Sarah hosts a conversation with POLITICO's senior climate correspond...
Mar 22, 2024•38 min•Ep. 363
Portugal's snap election has brought seismic change — the Socialists are now in opposition and the center-right Democratic Alliance, which narrowly won the vote, will try to form a minority government. But the biggest shock came when the far-right, ultra-nationalist, anti-immigrant Chega won more than a million votes and became the third-largest party in parliament. In this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO’s Aitor Hernández-Morales, Barbara Moens and Nicholas ...
Mar 15, 2024•35 min•Ep. 362
On this bumper edition of EU Confidential, we take you inside the two-day European People Party's Congress in Bucharest. Host Sarah Wheaton and POLITICO's Eddy Wax reveal what was happening as the center-right EPP sealed the deal on its campaign manifesto and anointed its lead candidate for the European Parliament election: Ursula von der Leyen. They speak exclusively to delegates and key EPP figures including Roberta Metsola, Manfred Weber, Thanasis Bakolas, Leo Varadkar, Michel Barnier, Petter...
Mar 08, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 361
With less than 100 days until the European Parliament election, we bring you the state of play. Also, we hear from Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili about her country's ambitions to join the EU. Host Sarah Wheaton assembles a panel of astute election watchers to break down the key issues and people shaping the discussions as campaigns get underway for the EU election in June: POLITICO's Parliament reporter Eddy Wax; Francesca Romana D'Antuono, co-president of Volt Europa; and Thomas Thaler...
Mar 01, 2024•38 min•Ep. 360
As we mark two years of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we take stock of how the war has changed Europe's political landscape and identity — as well as life for Ukrainians under siege. Also, we look at Ursula von der Leyen's campaign to remain European Commission chief. Von der Leyen finally announced her intention this week to officially seek another term at the helm following the European Parliament election in June. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO's Hans von der Burchard abo...
Feb 23, 2024•43 min•Ep. 359
Donald Trump has again sent shockwaves across Europe with comments suggesting that he would encourage Russia to invade NATO countries that do not spend enough on defense. In this episode, we discuss reactions in European capitals. Host Sarah Wheaton and her colleagues — senior Paris correspondent Clea Caulcutt, chief Europe correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig and Stuart Lau who covers China and NATO — check whether Trump's criticism of NATO could effectively prompt EU leaders to enhance the bloc'...
Feb 16, 2024•33 min•Ep. 358
Europe is waking up to the urgent need to strengthen its own defenses — especially as Donald Trump seems poised to capture the Republican nomination and possibly even the White House in November presidential elections. In this episode, host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Florence Gaub, director of research at the NATO Defence College in Rome and a futurist, along with Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (and a fellow podcaster: World Rev...
Feb 09, 2024•33 min•Ep. 357
As farmer protests continue around Europe, we unpack their various concerns and analyze their impact on the European election. We also take you to an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders in Brussels where crucial cash for Ukraine hung in the balance. Host Sarah Wheaton speaks to POLITICO's Parliament reporter Eddy Wax among the thousands of tractors and angry farmers in the heart of Brussels. Later in the episode, our in-house experts explain what's behind the farmers' uprising and what impact th...
Feb 02, 2024•35 min•Ep. 356
In this episode we look at a crisis that is affecting many Europeans in most EU countries: skyrocketing rents and house prices, a shortage of flats, long waiting lists for social or affordable housing — commonplace problems from Greece to Luxembourg to Portugal. Host Sarah Wheaton talks to POLITICO's Aitor Hernández-Morales and Sorcha Edwards, secretary general of Housing Europe, about the causes of the crisis, its impact across the bloc (including far-right parties using it as an election platf...
Jan 26, 2024•41 min•Ep. 355
After seven years of bitter wrangling, the EU has finally reached an agreement on how to handle migration — one of its most challenging and divisive issues. In this episode of EU Confidential we look at what's in the deal, which has been hailed as a success by Brussels but criticized by NGOs and human rights groups. Host Sarah Wheaton and Jacopo Barigazzi, POLITICO's senior diplomatic correspondent, talk to Catherine Woolard — director of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles — about the d...
Jan 19, 2024•29 min•Ep. 354
In this episode we look at the ongoing tug-of-war between Budapest and Brussels in the context of a rather shocking development that could pave the way for Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán — who has won a reputation as the bloc's biggest troublemaker — to chair meetings of EU leaders and set the EU agenda. It follows a surprising decision by European Council President Charles Michel to step down and run for a seat in the European Parliament. Host Sarah Wheaton and colleagues Barbara Moens and Hans von ...
Jan 12, 2024•43 min•Ep. 353
This isn't just any new year — 2024 in the political calendar means mega elections in Europe, the U.S., the U.K. and beyond. Our EU Confidential crew predicts how these elections could impact pressing issues around the European Union. Bringing together the collective knowledge of some of POLITICO's best and brightest reporters — Barbara Moens, Clea Caulcutt and Hans von der Burchard — we discuss the June vote that could see 400 million Europeans take part, the top EU jobs up for grabs, the Belgi...
Jan 05, 2024•40 min•Ep. 352
Our last episode of 2023 is a bumper edition, reviewing some of the key stories that drove the conversations in Brussels and throughout Europe this year. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by a roundtable of POLITICO's policy editors including Joanna Roberts, Aoife White and Jan Cienski to discuss everything from the AI Act to pharmaceutical rules and the EU's bolstered defense capabilities. Also, Opinion Editor Jamie Dettmer brings us up to speed on Europe's response to the Israel-Hamas war and the w...
Dec 15, 2023•46 min•Ep. 351
In this episode, we revisit the huge corruption scandal which shook the European Parliament and the EU bubble exactly one year ago. Host Sarah Wheaton talks to POLITICO colleagues Elisa Braun and Eddy Wax, who sifted through a massive trove of leaked police documents and, along with Gian Volpicelli, co-wrote an investigative series called The Qatargate Files. They bring us up to date on the key players, including former European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili who is out of jail and back in ...
Dec 08, 2023•37 min•Ep. 350
This week, we take you inside our POLITICO 28 unveiling of Europe's most powerful people and unpack Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's comments on the Israel-Hamas war and her plans to run for the top job again. Also, we reveal new tactics used by successful far-right leaders in Europe and explain why Germany's recent budget woes have sent shockwaves through the political system. Our new host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO's Clea Caulcutt and Nick Vinocur to break down the POLITICO...
Dec 01, 2023•34 min•Ep. 349
Far-right leader Geert Wilders came out on top in the Dutch election this week, sending shock waves through Brussels and beyond. In this episode of EU Confidential, host Suzanne Lynch is joined by Eline Schaart and Nicholas Vinocur to break down the results of the vote, and what it potentially means for the EU moving forward. Later, we have a fascinating discussion with David O'Sullivan, the EU's sanctions envoy. His main job is to make it harder for Russia to evade sanctions imposed by the EU o...
Nov 24, 2023•32 min•Ep. 348
Oil, gas and coal still made up 81.5 percent of the global energy mix in 2022 — down just 3 percent from 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was signed. Given the slow pace of the energy transition, carbon capture and storage, or CCS, has the potential to become an important technology for achieving net zero. Advocates believe that without CCS — which gathers emissions, processes them and stores them safely underground — we simply won’t meet our climate targets. But the technology faces a ran...
Nov 22, 2023•17 min
Ending months of political paralysis, we bring you up to speed on the turmoil in Spain that has left Pedro Sánchez clinging to power. The Socialist leader secured another term as Spain's prime minister thanks to a controversial amnesty deal with Catalan separatists, which saw thousands of people take to the streets in protest. EU Confidential host Suzanne Lynch talks to POLITICO's Aitor Hernández-Morales and Nick Vinocur about the stability of the new coalition in Madrid and its wider impact on ...
Nov 17, 2023•30 min•Ep. 347
The EU made important steps this week toward bringing new members into the bloc — our POLITICO team explains in this episode of EU Confidential. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's Barbara Moens and Jakob Hanke Vela in Brussels, as well as Sam Greene from the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington to discuss the European Commission's annual report card on the ten countries hoping to join the 27 EU members. The report recommends the start of formal accession negotiations with Uk...
Nov 10, 2023•31 min•Ep. 346
It has been a big week for the world's key players in the race to regulate AI development and make it safe. In this episode of EU Confidential, we bring you a roundup of where things stand — after the AI Safety Summit, organized by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak; the publication of the G7 AI code of conduct; and the signing by U.S. President Joe Biden of a long-awaited 100-page executive order on regulating and funding AI. Host Suzanne Lynch, with some assistance from AI technology, talks to PO...
Nov 03, 2023•32 min•Ep. 345
Coming to you directly from the European Council summit, our POLITICO team brings you the very latest on a range of difficult subjects facing EU leaders during their two-day meeting in Brussels. In a packed press centre, host Suzanne Lynch, along with Jacopo Barigazzi, Barbara Moens, Nicholas Vinocur and Hans von der Burchard unpack the topics on the table, including: the Israel-Hamas war, support for Ukraine, the EU's long term budget, and migration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...
Oct 27, 2023•21 min•Ep. 344
