Ep 178: Europe's new US BFFs — Biden calling — Big tech lobbying

They like America's traditional allies! They talk about multilateralism! Some of them even speak French! U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's foreign policy team has drawn rave reviews in Europe. We debate how much the hype is justified. And we look at the intense lobbying around two cornerstone pieces of tech legislation to be presented in Brussels soon.

POLITICO's Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz and Matthew Karnitschnig discuss Biden's key picks and their likely impact on relations with Europe. And as Biden picked up the phone to call world leaders in recent days, which Europeans made the cut and in which order — and does that even matter? We also discuss where Britain may fit in the new transatlantic order.

Brussels is set to unveil key pieces of legislation on December 9: the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. Our Technology Editor Nicholas Vinocur explains what's at stake. And he sits down with Jan Penfrat of European Digital Rights and Margarida Silva of Corporate Europe Observatory to shed light on the lobbying battle to try to shape the legislation.

The podcast panel also has a few lockdown recommendations. Rym picks a podcast about an American musical icon who supported one of the successful coronavirus vaccine makers. Matt does his bit for the Franco-German relationship with a German biography of a French statesman. And Andrew has a mystery podcast which is kind of about cryptocurrencies — and kind of isn't.

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