Almost two weeks after the EU election, there is still a lot of political manoeuvring going on — both in Brussels and in national capitals.

First, POLITICO's chief EU correspondent, Barbara Moens, recaps of the race for the top jobs after European leaders failed to reach a deal at their informal dinner in Brussels earlier this week.

Then, we zoom in on the countries and leaders who until recently were calling the shots, but now seem weakened — and those who are trying to seize the new zeitgeist and claim more power than they've had in the past. 

Host Sarah Wheaton and POLITICO's chief Europe correspondent in Berlin, Matthew Karnitschnig, discuss the precarious situation in which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the parties in his governing coalition find themselves as a result of the EU vote.

Later, we move to Poland and take a look at Donald Tusk and his increasingly dominant position among European leaders. Sarah is joined by Andrzej Bobiński, journalist and managing director of Polityka Insight in Warsaw, and Jan Cienski, POLITICO's senior political editor.

And finally, Hungary's newly-unveiled slogan for its upcoming presidency of the Council of the EU may be "Make Europe Great Again," but we here at EU Confidential are all about MAGA: Making Audio Great Again. So do keep sending your ideas and comments to podcast@politico.eu.

Further reading:

EU leaders fail to agree on von der Leyen’s second term , by Barbara Moens, Jacopo Barigazzi and Stuart Lau

Time runs out for Olaf Scholz, by Matthew Karnitschnig

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices