Politico's Eu Confidential

This week, we debate the EU's latest attempt to combat foreign influence with its forthcoming "Defence of Democracy package," which some in Brussels claim could result in unintended consequences. POLITICO's Suzanne Lynch speaks to the European Commission’s special adviser on foreign interference, Ivana Karásková, a Czech academic and expert on Chinese influence. She provides insight into the degree of foreign influence in the European Union. She also explains the rationale behind a specific piece of this package, which is causing concern, particularly among NGOs: potential rules that would subject civil society organizations to report if they receive funding from third-country donors. Then we're joined by Sarah Wheaton, POLITICO's chief policy correspondent and author of our EU Influence newsletter, and Nicholas Aiossa, deputy director and head of policy and advocacy at Transparency International EU. They dig into the concerns that this package will have unintended consequences for European democracy — and di

This week, we dive into the political upheaval in Bulgaria and the resignation of the country's EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel. And we begin our spotlight series on the European Parliament, as the dates for elections next year are finalized. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by Christian Oliver, POLITICO's head of news, and Antoaneta Roussi, our cybersecurity reporter and Bulgaria expert. They reveal how Bulgaria’s mafia state is reaching its breaking point and why these rapid political changes have resulted in the resignation of Gabriel — who's been tapped to form a coalition government back home. But what kind of reputation does she leave behind in Brussels? We answer that question and explain what's next for Ursula von der Leyen's Commission. And in the week when the dates of the next European parliamentary election have been set for June 6 to June 9, our colleague Souwie Buis introduces us to two of its newest members, Damian Boeselager and Kim van Sparrentak. They give us the inside scoop on how they became M

This week, the focus is on Turkey and what's at stake in elections happening May 14. We also hear from British writer and scholar Hugh Pope, who has written extensively on modern Turkey and tackles the long-standing issue of EU accession. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's Head of News Christian Oliver and Turkish journalist Elçin Poyrazlar. They discuss tensions on the ground as election day approaches and the possible fall-out should incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lose. The panel also considers the growing cost of living crisis in Turkey and opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's chances of holding together a shaky alliance in the event of victory. British writer and scholar Hugh Pope provides us with historical context to EU-Turkey relations, especially when it comes to the long-contested issue of joining the bloc. He explains why the idea of Turkey joining the EU might never come to pass. Finally, this week marked Europe Day commemorating the Schuman Declaration of 1950 and we ask the si

As the EU defense industry gets the green light to ramp up ammunitions production, we hear from former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe Ben Hodges on why Crimea holds the key to a Ukrainian victory. We also ask why Giorgia Meloni's far-right government in Italy is struggling to spend EU recovery funds in time — yes, you read that right, and find out what European diplomats think of Netflix series “The Diplomat.” This week our host, Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's Senior EU Reporter Jacopo Barigazzi to take stock of Meloni's first six months in office — including her surprisingly pragmatic relationship with Brussels and her struggles to provide concrete spending plans for the billions of euros of EU recovery funds ear-marked for Italy. Our Editor at Large Nick Vinocur reviews the new Netflix series, “The Diplomat,” and shares how it’s landing with diplomats in Brussels and how it stacks up against their own experience. POLITICO's Senior Policy Reporter Joshua Posaner speaks with former Commanding G

"We have created the best Europe there has ever been" — so says Timothy Garton Ash, this week's special guest. Meanwhile, former vice president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, is fighting more criminal allegations, this time for a kickback scheme involving four of her former assistants and approximately €100,000. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's politics reporter, Eddy Wax, who has been following the saga of Greek MEP Kaili since her arrest late last year in the Qatargate scandal. Now, under house arrest, Kaili faces renewed scrutiny as further evidence of her involvement in three potentially fraudulent activities has come to light in documents obtained by POLITICO earlier this week. Her lawyers deny all wrong-doing on her behalf and are fighting to maintain the parliamentary immunity she currently enjoys. If you're wondering what exactly this immunity entails, listen for this week's EU jargon-busting blast! British historian Timothy Garton Ash talks to us about his new book, "Homelands: A Pe

We're back from a break and straight into tackling the geopolitical tensions that underlie a sudden ban on Ukraine's grain exports by neighboring Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. We also discuss Ursula von der Leyen's recent visit to Germany where she has been assured of the support of her Christian Democrat party, should she try for a second term as Commission president. And we hear from the EU's first high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Catherine Ashton, as she looks back on the highs and the lows of her time in office. A compromise has now been reached between Poland and Ukraine on the transit of grain through Poland and on to the Baltic Sea ports. Our host, Suzanne Lynch, is joined by POLITICO's Senior Policy Editor for Energy & Environment, Jan Cienski, to explore how this stand-off has affected already frayed relations between Brussels and the Polish government and potentially undermined its close connection with Ukraine. We are also joined by POLITICO's Senior Politics Reporter in

This week, Finland joins NATO while Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, joins us here in the POLITICO studio to talk about his own country's NATO ambitions. We also follow EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron's China visit as they meet Xi Jinping in Beijing this week. Our host, Suzanne Lynch, is joined this week by POLITICO's EU-China Correspondent Stuart Lau, co-author of our recently relaunched China Watcher newsletter. We also hear from our Senior France Correspondent Clea Caulcutt, who is in Beijing. Together they unpack the diverging agendas of von der Leyen and Macron in China with the help of POLITICO's very own Editor-in-Chief Jamil Anderlini, who travelled with the French president to China. Stuart also decodes some important Brussels-speak when it comes to EU-China trade relations in our regular jargon-busting segment. Finally, NATO's open-door policy on Ukrainian membership, Western war fatigue and China's role as peace broker in Russia's war on Ukraine, are all

The worst strikes and protests in decades bring both France and Germany to a standstill this week. Is this just the beginning of Europe’s cost of living crisis? Our special guest is Director General of the Commission Legal services, Daniel Calleja. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO’s Senior France Correspondent, Clea Caulcutt and Chief Europe Correspondent, Matt Karnitschnig to delve into the forces driving unrest in France following President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms. They ask if the worst transport strikes to hit Germany in decades are a sign of things to come for a less economically affluent Europe? And wonder if a visit from Britain’s King Charles might provide some welcome distraction.  SCOOP: POLITICO’s Senior Climate Correspondent, Karl Mathiesen reveals how top EU Chiefs – Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, shared a private jet to major climate change event, COP27 . We also hear from the man in charge of “the best law firm in Brussels” – Daniel Calleja, who has held a number of t

Coming to you from this week’s European Council summit in Brussels, competitiveness and the economy are high on the agenda, alongside a historic EU agreement for joint arms procurement. We also discuss French President Emanuel Macron’s plummeting popularity ratings at home, and Franco-German wrangling over nuclear energy and e-fuels. Taking us through all this and more is host Suzanne Lynch, along with POLITICO’s Jacopo Barigazzi, Clea Caulcutt and Barbara Moens. We then hear from the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, Susan Danger, on European competitiveness, and get her take on America’s much-debated Inflation Reduction Act. Finally, we decode Brussels-speak. The podcast crew unpacks this week’s EU jargon: EUCO. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We debate Germany's last-minute effort to derail EU plans to end the sale of combustion engines by 2035. And our special guest is author and activist Bill Browder, discussing how the EU can take a stronger stance on punishing human rights violators. The EU wants to ban the sale of new combustion-engine vehicles by 2035, but the policy isn't going down well with German lawmakers keen to protect the country's behemoth car industry. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's Joshua Posaner and Hans von der Burchard to unpack the latest row stirring debate about the future of Das Auto. Then, Suzanne sits down with Bill Browder in the European Parliament in Strasbourg to discuss his efforts to draw EU attention to political prisoners in Russia and Georgia. Finally, Josh and Hans return for our final segment decoding Brussels-speak. This week, the team explains what a "trilogue" is in EU policymaking.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm

This week, we debate a controversy over travel rules for top EU officials and unpack what the European Commission president is hoping to achieve during her visit to North America. Our special guest is Balázs Orbán, political director to the Hungarian prime minister (no relation to his boss). Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's Mari Eccles and Karl Mathiesen to discuss a big story dominating the Brussels bubble involving paid travel by a top EU bureaucrat to Qatar while negotiating a critical aviation deal with the Gulf state. We dive into why this conflict-of-interest flap matters for EU politics — and to European citizens. Also, we reveal what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hopes to get out of visits this week to Canada and with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington. And POLITICO's Lili Bayer speaks to Balázs Orbán, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s political director, who plays a key role in Budapest's international efforts to build relationships with conservative communiti

This week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met King Charles III at Windsor Castle after a deal was sealed on a long-awaited solution to the post-Brexit trade row over Northern Ireland. Host Suzanne Lynch in Brussels is joined by Ailbhe Rea, co-host of our sister podcast Westminster Insider, and a special guest — the EU's final British Commissioner, Julian King — to discuss this latest chapter in the Brexit saga and where the EU-U.K. relationship goes from here. We also hear from Barry Andrews, an Irish member of the European Parliament. Then, POLITICO's Jacopo Barigazzi kicks off a brand new feature of EU Confidential — decoding "Brussels-speak." We're helping our listeners better understand the jargon and acronyms that dominate EU policy-making. This week's phrase is "Perm Rep." If you'd like to suggest an example of Brussels jargon you'd like us to decode, you can always get in touch by emailing podcast@politico.eu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more

As we approach the one year mark of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU Confidential crew chronicles the historic policy shifts in the EU and European capitals with the help of Bulgarian political scientist, Ivan Krastev. Host Suzanne Lynch discusses the seismic changes in Europe over the past year with Ivan Krastev, chairman of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. Then POLITICO's Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv describes the mood there after U.S. President Joe Biden's visit earlier this week — and how Ukrainians are trying to re-build and stay positive, as the one-year mark of war looms. Finally, Suzanne speaks to curators at a museum in Kyiv who are gathering evidence of war crimes in an attempt to hold Russia to account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we unpack some of the transparency issues plaguing the EU's top institutions, and our special guest is Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe on Europe's economic outlook. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's European Parliament reporter Eddy Wax in Strasbourg, to discuss the ongoing Qatargate scandal — including the arrest in the past few days of two more MEPs in connection with the police probe. POLITICO's Sarah Wheaton in Brussels also weighs in on the proposal to create an EU-wide independent ethics body to address transparency concerns. Meanwhile, MEPs are resisting efforts to clean up the chamber, as Sarah reports in this recent article. The podcast crew also debates the news that the European Commission is being sued for failing to release text messages between its president Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla when the Commission was negotiating with the drug company on coronavirus vaccine procurement. And Suzanne sits down with Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe to discuss

Coming to you during Thursday's meeting of EU leaders, we discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's (not so) surprise visit to Brussels, as well as other topics on the agenda: migration and Europe's response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. On the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels, host Suzanne Lynch sits down with POLITICO's Clea Caulcutt, Barbara Moens and Jacopo Barigazzi to analyze the impact of Zelenskyy's visit to Brussels, which became the source of controversy after the news of his trip was leaked earlier in the week. The group also discusses the EU's attempts to make progress on its migration policy, as well as the bloc’s plan to make Europe more competitive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All eyes are on Ukraine as the EU's top officials visit Kyiv for a historic summit — the first to be held in an active war zone. And Moldovan President Maia Sandu is our special guest. Host Suzanne Lynch is joined by POLITICO's Veronika Melkozerova in Kyiv and Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin to discuss what we can expect from the visit by EU leaders to the Ukrainian capital — including whether sending Ukraine fighter jets is now part of the discussion and if Ukraine's prospects for joining the EU have advanced. Also looking to join the EU eventually is Moldova. Suzanne sat down with President Maia Sandu as her country prepares to host the next meeting of the European Political Community in June. They discuss what we can expect from that meeting, as well as her country's EU prospects, the impact of the war in Ukraine and her own political journey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our POLITICO team has the inside scoop on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's long-awaited decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and how it's landing internationally. Also, our special guest is Mairead McGuinness, the EU's financial services commissioner. POLITICO's Suzanne Lynch is joined by Chief Europe Correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig and Hans von der Burchard, our senior politics reporter covering the German chancellery. They break down Scholz's decision to send tanks to Ukraine (along with the U.S. and others) and debate the reaction to it domestically and among international partners. The German chancellor stuck to his position that he would not move until Washington also agreed to send the heavy military kit, but what was the cost of the delay? Then, the EU's Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness joins Suzanne to talk through the EU's approach to enforcing Russian sanctions and how the bloc is leading the charge when it comes to regulating cryptocurrencies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.

The EU Confidential crew takes you inside this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland where the world's rich and powerful are gathered. POLITICO's Suzanne Lynch, Ryan Heath, Erin Banco and Alex Ward unpack the big speeches on Wednesday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The team discusses the latest on international efforts to send tanks to Ukraine, and we hear from Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on this issue. Looking ahead to the reconstruction of Ukraine, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Odile Renaud-Basso shares her perspective on what we could expect. We also continue our reporting on the transatlantic tensions being hashed out on the sidelines of the WEF main stage — in particular, the green tech subsidy spat between the EU and U.S. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar weighs in on this issue. If you haven't done so already, listen to our bonus episode from earlier in the week, which dove into this topic in

It's Thursday morning and today we bring you bumper editions from Davos with our final episode of the week landing later this evening. In this episode, POLITICO Europe's Editor-in-Chief Jamil Anderlini sits down with Academy Award-winning film director Oliver Stone to discuss his new documentary, "Nuclear." Jamil and Oliver are joined by Joshua Goldstein, author of the book which inspired the film, "A Bright Future." The live conversation took place at the Blockchain Hub, at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Then, we hear from the European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni. He explains to POLITICO's Jakob Hanke Vela that the EU needs to loosen the bloc's state aid rules to compete with American subsidies and make sure poorer EU countries aren't left behind in the green transition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Wednesday, and we're back with another episode from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. POLITICO's Suzanne Lynch, Alex Ward and Jakob Hanke Vela reveal the on-the-ground EU-U.S. subsidy spat playing out here in Davos. We analyze European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's speech at the WEF, where she announced the EU's policy response to compete with Washington's subsidy spree. And Alex speaks to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, who played an instrumental role in passing America's Inflation Reduction Act, which Europeans see as creating competition for their own industries. Then POLITICO's Ryan Heath sits down with Gary Cohn, former director of America's National Economic Council and now vice chairman of IBM, to discuss the protectionism tensions between Europe and the United States and hear his surprising economic outlook for the coming year. Finally, Ryan heads over to the Female Quotient's Equality Lounge® to speak with its founder, Shelley Zalis. She's been helping to bring VIPs into th