EU Confidential

We look at the big stories we expect to shape 2022 and suggest a few New Year’s resolutions for European politicians — and DOT Europe Director General Siada El Ramly talks EU tech policy.POLITICO's Rym Momtaz, Matthew Karnitschnig, Sarah Wheaton and David M. Herszenhorn discuss the stories they believe will drive the European political agenda this year — including political fallout from the pandemic, presidential elections in France and escalating tensions with Russia at the Ukrainian border.Our special guest is DOT Europe's Siada El Ramly who discusses her organization's lobbying efforts on the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to tighten oversight of online content, with POLITICO tech reporter Clothilde Goujard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The podcast crew, Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz, Matthew Karnitschnig and Cristina Gonzalez, present audio clips that sum up some of the big stories of the year — in a conversation recorded at a (virtual) gathering of EU Confidential listeners, who also feature in the episode.And with Christmas approaching, we look at the role of Jesus in modern politics. POLITICO's Jacopo Barigazzi walks us through his reporting on where Christian values fit in the political landscape and why some politicians are so keen to claim them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Angela Merkel bows out after 16 years, we focus this episode on Germany's new government and its chancellor, Olaf Scholz. We also debate the growing use of "Denglish" — a hybrid of German and English — among politicians.POLITICO's Andrew Gray and Matthew Karnitschnig explore expectations for the new government, particularly on foreign policy. And we feature some highlights from a live Twitter Spaces discussion among POLITICO reporters: Florian Eder and Hans von der Burchard look at how the coalition will tackle big EU issues and reveal some key behind-the-scenes operators in the chancellery.Then we broaden the lens to all of Europe and get the inside scoop from Senior Reporter Joshua Posaner on POLITICO's new list of the 28 most powerful people shaping Europe. You can read the full list here and watch the P28 event, which included interviews with Frans Timmermans, executive vice president for the European Green Deal at the European Commission, and with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization.Our special guest is German language critic Peter Littger, whose latest book on the Denglish phenomenon is "Hello in the round!" He discusses the pervasive use of this hybrid of German and English among politicians and the impact it has on society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week: the Omicron variant and its impact on Europe's coronavirus response, our editor-in-chief on China's approach to Europe and Amnesty International's boss on EU emergency migration measures.POLITICO's Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz and Sarah Wheaton break down Europe's response to the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the debate over making vaccines mandatory and the prospects for winter as cases continue to rise.Making his podcast debut is our new Editor-in-Chief, Jamil Anderlini, who spent most of his career in Asia before making the leap to Brussels. He shares fascinating insights into China's view of Europe, the changes to the country he has seen under Xi Jinping and potential future flashpoints between Beijing and the West.Agnès Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, is our special guest. She spoke with POLITICO's Hans von der Burchard during a trip to Brussels this week, just as the European Commission was unveiling new measures related to the arrival of refugees and migrants on the EU's border with Belarus.Programming note: The EU Confidential crew is hosting virtual holiday drinks on Monday, December 13 at 7 p.m. CET. It's a chance to meet the people behind the podcast, ask your questions and be a part of a live taping of our end-of-year show! If you'd like to join via Zoom, email us at podcast@politico.eu for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, France's Europe minister Clément Beaune and Dutch political theorist and author Luuk van Middelaar all feature in this episode. Plus, we dive into Germany's new government.POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig has the details on the coalition agreement struck this week between Germany's Social Democrats, Greens and liberals. Matt also brings us an exclusive interview with Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg about his plans for Europe’s first compulsory coronavirus vaccine law.Also this week, Rym Momtaz and Brussels Playbook co-author Jakob Hanke Vela spoke with Clément Beaune, France's secretary of state for European affairs. In the podcast, Beaune addresses how France will try to balance a presidential election in April with its presidency of the Council of the EU, which begins in January. He also responds to the latest fishing row between the U.K. and the EU. You can watch the full POLITICO Live interview here.We hear too from Luuk van Middelaar, the Dutch political theorist and former EU official who is also the author of an acclaimed series of books on the European Union. In conversation with POLITICO's Andrew Gray, van Middelaar walks us through the ups and downs of the EU's pandemic response, as described in his new book: "Pandemonium." He also addresses the growing tensions within the EU over the rule of law and democratic norms.And finally, back in January, we introduced you to Dutch documentary filmmaker Nadine van Loon, who was working on a film called "Notes from Brussels" — chronicling the struggles of people, particularly women, trying to thrive both personally and professionally in the so-called "EU bubble." After she appeared on the podcast, Nadine secured crowdfunding to finish the film, which will be showing at the Cinema Galeries in Brussels next month. You can find more details here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we get the American perspective on European strategic autonomy and other issues facing the EU from Derek Chollet, the top adviser to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. We also unpack the dramatic denouement of the COP26 climate conference.POLITICO's Senior Climate Correspondent Karl Mathiesen takes us inside the final day of the climate negotiations and the dramatic showdown over coal. In conversation with POLITICO's Chief Policy Correspondent Sarah Wheaton, Karl brings us exclusive audio from the conference and explains how a last-minute push by the world's biggest carbon emitters to "phase down" rather than "phase out" coal power put the entire agreement in jeopardy.Then we hear from Derek Chollet, a foreign policy expert and top adviser to the U.S. secretary of state. POLITICO’s Chief Brussels Correspondent David Herszenhorn caught up with Chollet in Brussels this week. They start with a conversation on the main focus of his trip to Europe, a flare-up of tensions is Bosnia, and then tackle the migration crisis at the border of Belarus and Poland, EU enlargement and America’s thinking on European strategy autonomy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we discuss Europe's coronavirus resurgence and the escalating migration crisis at the Polish border. Plus, we hear exclusively from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen on the EU's efforts to rein in Big Tech.As coronavirus cases soar across Europe and vaccine hesitancy lingers, POLITICO's Health Care Editor Doug Busvine and Health Care Reporter Ashleigh Furlong explain how Europe got to this point and what options officials are considering to stem the tide — especially as winter approaches.Temperatures are also dropping at the border between Poland and Belarus, where tensions intensified this week. Thousands of migrants are trapped on the frontier between the two countries, and at least nine people have died. POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig speaks to Gerald Knaus, migration expert and co-founder of the European Stability Initiative, about the EU's options for diffusing the situation and finding a more permanent solution.Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is our special guest. She spoke to POLITICO's Chief Technology Correspondent Mark Scott during her trip to Brussels, where she also testified in the European Parliament this week. Haugen addresses the risks of being a whistleblower and why she believes the European Union is primed to take on Big Tech companies to better police harmful online content. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COP26 climate talks, a top European tech entrepreneur and a return to the question of whether the EU is funny all feature in this week's episode.POLITICO's Karl Mathiesen joins Andrew Gray and the podcast panel from the press tent at COP26 in Glasgow with the latest insights into what is, and isn't, being accomplished. Also in Glasgow, POLITICO's Esther Webber gives us the lowdown on how Boris Johnson and his government are faring as the host and whether he's playing nice with Scottish leaders. And POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin tells us how green the next German government could be.Then we move on to another big event taking place in Europe this week: Web Summit in Portugal. Ahead of the global tech gathering, POLITICO's Pieter Haeck sat down with one of Europe's most successful start-up founders, John Collison. The Irish native co-founded Stripe, an online payments platform, along with his brother, Patrick, a decade ago — and the company is now valued at $95 billion. He spoke to Pieter about the EU's start-up scene, how it differs from the United States and what he thinks policymakers can do to foster a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem in Europe.Finally, we return to a super-serious issue we tackled on the podcast earlier in the year: Is the EU funny? POLITICO's Paul Dallison tells us about the birth of a new EU institution — a monthly Brussels comedy night called The Schuman Show — that came about partly as a result of that episode of EU Confidential. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We preview two big weekend events: the G20 summit and the start of COP26 climate talks. We also discuss liberalism and its current struggles with British author and journalist Ian Dunt.POLITICO's David M. Herszenhorn joins Andrew Gray to lay out what G20 leaders in Rome hope to achieve on everything from COVID-19 to climate change. He also delves into who will and — maybe more interestingly — won't be attending.Many of those leaders will make their way to Scotland to continue their conversations on climate. POLITICO's Senior Climate Correspondent Karl Mathiesen tells us what we should and shouldn't expect at the COP26 in Glasgow. (You can keep updated with every twist and turn of the conference by subscribing to our POLITICO Energy and Climate newsletter, which is usually only for our Pro subscribers but will be available for free during the two-week conference.)Our reporter in Scotland, Andrew McDonald, gives us a taste of the troubles plaguing Glasgow — over everything from trash to trains — as it prepares to host tens of thousands of people in the coming weeks. He also explores how both the Scottish and U.K. governments plan to handle the conference — and their prickly relationship with each other.Then we turn to special guest Ian Dunt, who talks about the past, present and future of liberalism, along with other issues raised by his latest book: "How To Be A Liberal: The Story of Freedom and the Fight for its Survival." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We talk to Péter Márki-Zay, the man chosen by Hungarian opposition parties to take on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Also in this episode, we have an update on the EU's rule-of-law battle and get you up to speed on talks to form a new German government.As EU leaders gathered in Brussels to discuss everything from energy to trade, they couldn't escape another topic dominating the headlines: the recent Polish court ruling that challenged the legal bedrock of their union. POLITICO's Rym Momtaz joins Andrew Gray to explain how the ruling is being used by mainstream candidates vying to be the next French president to bash the bloc and assert France's national sovereignty.And POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig brings us the latest on efforts to form a new German government by the center-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats.Then we meet Péter Márki-Zay, selected by an alliance of opposition parties in Hungary to be their candidate for prime minister in a parliamentary election next spring. POLITICO's Lili Bayer caught up with Márki-Zay at a campaign rally in Budapest.You can always send feedback or ideas directly to the podcast team at podcast@politico.eu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices