Ryan Heath hits the road with Europe’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager — darling of Emmanuel Macron and foe of tax cheats and tech giants — to learn about how one Belgian city went from wasteland to strength in diversity. Sound like a campaign trip? Listen to find out how Vestager is handling the pressure to run to be European Commission president in 2019. She talks to EU Confidential about the 2019 election, her political heroes, how she thinks rule of law can be delivered across Eu...
May 03, 2018•38 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast Spencer Dale, the former chief economist at the Bank of England who now holds the same position at energy giant BP, is our main guest this week. He looks into Europe’s energy future and discusses the dangers of groupthink in both his current and former jobs. To set the scene, POLITICO reporter Kalina Oroschakoff sketches out the controversies around the EU's energy policies. Ryan Heath hosts the podcast from Washington and links up with regular panelists, Lina Aburous and Alva Finn, to talk abou...
Apr 26, 2018•41 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast Cécile Kyenge, one of the few black members of the European Parliament, talks to Ryan Heath about the obstacles and abuse she’s faced in her career — and what she wants the EU institutions to do to foster more diversity in their ranks. We also talk to our regular podcast panelists, Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn, about Emmanuel Macron’s big moment at the European Parliament, the European Commission giving the green light for membership talks to two more countries and the EU’s role (or lack of it) ...
Apr 19, 2018•35 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Kati Marton, a veteran reporter and author now with the Committee to Protect Journalists, talks to host Ryan Heath about how the reelection of Victor Orbán in Hungary will impact media freedom in Europe. Jan Philipp Albrecht, also known as Mr. Data Protection for his role in the GDPR legislation being enacted in May, chats to Ryan about his work in Parliament. Albrecht also tells us about the dream job he is set to begin soon. The Brussels brains trust, Ailbhe Finn and Lina Aburous, is shell-sho...
Apr 12, 2018•33 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, is this week’s main guest. He talks to Ryan Heath about the work of his foundations, the next EU budget and the Oxfam scandal. And we talk to Politico health reporter Carmen Paun about how Gates has shaken up the world of public health — not without criticism. In our Dear Politico advice session, we hear from an assistant to a member of the European Parliament, who says their MEP is using their job to get trips to exotic locations at taxpayer...
Apr 05, 2018•36 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 
