EU Confidential

In a special episode this week, we feature interviews from both sides of the Catalan independence debate ahead of the Catalan regional government's referendum, planned for Sunday.Ryan Heath interviews Jorge Toledo Albiñana, Spain's secretary of state for European affairs, who makes the case for Spanish unity, as well as Amadeu Altafaj, the Catalan government's representative to the EU, who accuses Madrid of using repressive tactics that breach EU law.Ryan also speaks to POLITICO Europe's managing editor, Stephen Brown, about the challenges of covering a passionate debate where there appears to be little scope for a negotiated compromise.Independence 'is not going to happen,' says Toledo. In response, Altafaj said: "That short quote is very telling. It says a lot about the problem. Basically, this is a political challenge and it should be addressed through politics and it's being addressed by all means: the judiciary, the police forces, and undercover operations, etcetera, but not through politics." Toledo rejects the idea that "a part of Spain decides on its own what the whole of Spain is."'Evil illegal act:' That's how Toledo describes the referendum, claiming Madrid has been acting "very moderately" to prevent the vote. Their efforts have included judicial investigations into hundreds of Catalan officials, as well as bans on pamphlets and websites promoting the referendum.Barcelona remains open to discussion: While the rhetoric of independence campaigners suggests they'll let nothing stop them from reaching their ultimate goal, Altafaj insisted there is room for negotiation. “We are open to discussion and until the very last minute before the referendum on Sunday,” he said.Madrid likens its fight to JFK's on civil rights: Toledo used an interesting analogy to describe Madrid's situation, comparing it to how the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy dealt with state officials who refused to comply with a Supreme Court ruling against segregation. "You can disagree with the law. You can change the law. But you cannot not apply the law because you think it is not fit to your purposes," said Toledo.Altafaj, meanwhile, criticized Madrid's tactics as a "black and white, passionate macho Latino approach," adding that with a different approach by the Spanish government, "most of the tensions could have been diffused years ago."Both sides said that while tensions are running high, violence is not expected. Altafaj noted there have been six years of "huge demonstrations with more than 1 million people on the street and never a single incident."Also this week, our podcast panel discusses the difficulties posed by the results of the German election. Angela Merkel came in first, but can't be described as a clear winner. She faces limited coalition government options and must also contend with the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany.And finally, Dear POLITICO discusses EU Court confusion: What do you do when an esteemed British journalist can't tell the difference between the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg? Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn explain what they'd do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Ryan Heath interviews Toni Cowan-Brown, a vice president at NationBuilder, the software company that has powered election campaigns for Emmanuel Macron's party, Theresa May, Bernie Sanders and even Belgian communists. Also this week: POLITICO's Florian Eder looks ahead to the German election.Smashing political barriers: Cowan-Brown explains how political software is dramatically lowering the money and time it takes to launch movements and campaigns.Analog Germany: But the company is not working on the German election: because political parties wanted all the data stored in Germany. We discuss whether that attitude is likely to change.About that election: POLITICO managing editor Florian Eder previews Sunday's parliamentary vote — and discusses who Brussels would like to see in the next government.Boris Johnson's Brexit vision — fact or fantasy? Our Brussels brains trust debates what Britain's foreign secretary is up to with his recent Brexit opus and fact-checks some of his statements.The court with optional judgments: The brains trust also talks about why the European Court of Human Rights has issued 10,000 judgments that have not been implemented by its member countries.Dear POLITICO discusses "Brussels or Bust": We hear from a listener who works at a pan-EU organization, and whose CEO has decided they don't need to live in Brussels. Is that decision hurting their credibility? Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn weight the pros and cons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ryan Heath interviews Tomáš Valášek, the former Slovakian ambassador to NATO who heads the Carnegie Europe think tank.As Russia begins its Zapad war game, the West should be worried about Moscow “downright lying about the size and the type” of military exercises it holds, Valášek says. But he also says that fears Moscow will use the exercise as a springboard to attack or invade a neighbor are overblown.Valášek said the EU has finally upped its defense cooperation game in a meaningful way, and that Jean-Claude Juncker's olive branches to eastern Europe in his State of the European Union speech are an essential gesture if the EU27 is to stay united through Brexit negotiations and planning for the next long-term EU budget.Also this week, Christian Oliver, POLITICO's European trade editor, guides us through Juncker's address. We discuss the speech's many priorities, traps, and fanciful power grabs.In our panel discussion, regular guests Ailbhe Finn and Lina Aburous discussing the political hot potato of the government of Catalonia's attempt to hold a referendum on independence from Spain.And in the Dear POLITICO advice session, we hear from a listener who says she has a bullying boss in the Europe office of a large company. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Ryan heath talks to David McAllister, head of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and a key ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.McAllister says the U.K.'s decision to leave the EU is a "historic mistake" and Turkey's authoritarian drift is “appalling." He also says the EU cannot slam the door on the membership aspirations of Western Balkan countries.McAllister says that while “there aren't many people who really believe that Martin Schulz could become German chancellor,” it would be a terrible mistake for the ruling CDU party to be complacent about their opinion poll lead.On Brexit, McAllister warns “the clock is ticking” for negotiators and said the U.K. needs to do more to bring the divorce talks forward.Also on the podcast this week, Jack Blanchard, the editor of the new POLITICO London Playbook, explains where Brexit is likely to bite most.In our "EU WTF" feature, Ailbhe Finn and Harry Cooper discuss an extraordinary set of money laundering and bribery allegations tied to the ruling elite of Azerbaijan, which has denied the accusations.And in our Dear POLITICO advice section we hear from a staff member of the EU-funded European House of History who has a string of complaints about the working conditions there — and we hear the EU side of the story too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regular host Ryan Heath is back with an interview with Michael O’Flaherty, the head of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. The interview, recorded at the European Alpbach Forum in Austria, looks at why human rights defenders have failed to make more headway in the face of populist challenges. O'Flaherty also talks about the European Commission's fights with Poland and Hungary and why he regrets Brexit from a human-rights perspective.Also on the podcast this week, POLITICO's energy and climate editor Jan Cienski, one of our resident Poland experts, walks us through the key players in the European Commission's dispute with Warsaw over the government's role in the courts and its hardline positions on independent journalism and refugees.In our "EU WTF" feature, Ailbhe Finn and Lina Aburous discuss Emmanuel Macron's massive make-up bill, his tour of eastern Europe, and the incredible lack of chemistry between chief Brexit negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis.And in the Dear POLITICO advice session, a European Parliament assistant recounts her distress at being asked by her boss to be "extra friendly" with other MEPs and their assistants to help him get the deals he wants.You can contact the podcast team at playbook@politico.eu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While regular host Ryan Heath recovers from his holiday jet lag, news editor Andrew Gray presents an interview with former Irish PM John Bruton on Brexit, a roundup of the latest on Britain's departure from the EU, and discussion of stories from across the Continent.We start with POLITICO's Brexit editor James Randerson, who brings us up to date on the flurry of Brexit position papers released by the U.K. government as well as the EU's official reaction — and what it really thinks.Bruton, the former Irish prime minister who later served as the EU's ambassador to Washington, tells us what Brexit will mean for Ireland, why Britain may decide its vision of life outside the EU isn't achievable and how the rest of the European Union will fare when the negotiating gets tough.In our "EU WTF" feature, Playbook's Harry Cooper and POLITICO tech reporter Joanna Plucinska discuss Donald Trump's Scottish tax break, Cambridge University Press's Chinese challenge and a big rise in popularity for the EU.You can contact the podcast team at playbook@politico.eu. Look forward to hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regular host Ryan Heath is on holiday but the podcast rolls on with news editor Andrew Gray standing in once more.This week, we've dug into the archives again to bring you the highlights of a conversation between Ryan and General Petr Pavel, the head of NATO's military committee, at a Playbook event in June. Pavel talks about Turkey, Russia and defense spending among NATO allies.Germany's Social Democrats want to make military spending a key issue in their campaign to stop Chancellor Angela Merkel winning another term. With some five weeks to go until the parliamentary election, POLITICO Berlin correspondent Janosch Delcker brings us up to date on the battle for votes. Janosch explains why taking a holiday has worked out well for Merkel while challenger Martin Schulz runs from one campaign event to the next.In our "EU WTF" feature, Brussels brains trust regular Ailbhe Finn is joined by POLITICO's Harry Cooper to discuss the new job of Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is set to join Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft, the EU's response to the North Korea crisis, and the Brexit position papers published by the British government.You can contact the podcast team at playbook@politico.eu. Look forward to hearing from you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Europe might be slowing down for the summer but we're still going strong. Regular host Ryan Heath is on holiday so news editor Andrew Gray stands in this week.We've raided the archive to bring you something a bit different — Emmanuel Macron, before he was famous. Well, before he was French president, or even a presidential candidate.Last year, soon after founding the movement that would help propel him to power, Macron sat down for a chat with Ryan and senior Paris correspondent Pierre Briançon at a POLITICO Playbook cocktail event in Brussels. We've put together the highlights from that conversation.It's a rare chance to hear Europe's man of the moment talk — at length and in English — about French politics, Europe, trade policy... and which character he'd like to play on stage or screen.Pierre Briançon joins us from Paris to bring us up to date on how Macron is doing as president so far — and how he's changed since that conversation in Brussels.In our "EU WTF" feature, Brussels brains trust stalwart Ailbhe Finn is joined by POLITICO's Harry Cooper to discuss European commissioners' expenses following revelations that they spent €500,000 on 261 official trips in two months.And in the Dear POLITICO advice session, our panel tries to help a Brussels intern looking for networking tips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Ryan Heath sits down with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO secretary-general and now adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Rasmussen talks defense spending, Trump and how to handle Russia. And he reveals why we should spend our summer holiday in Denmark.David Herszenhorn, POLITICO's chief Brussels correspondent, brings us up to date with events in Ukraine and Russia.In our "EU WTF" section, our Brussels brains trust, Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn, discuss the case of Andreas Georgiou, the Greek statistician who has been convicted for telling the truth about the state of the Greek economy.And in our Dear Politico section, we hear from an NGO worker who says their organization is misusing EU funds and wants to know what to do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Violeta Bulc, the European transport commissioner and a taekwondo black belt, explains why she’d have Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary as a Brexit negotiator to make sure planes can still fly from the U.K. to the EU and vice versa the day after Brexit. Bulc is also passionate about drones and tells us why there should be millions of them, why they need to be regulated and how she plans to do it. You'll also hear what it takes to establish a cross-border fast train link, and so why many obvious connections — like one between Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest — are still missing from Europe's map.Bulc even entertains the idea of giving farmers EU Common Agricultural Policy money to buy drones to help with their work.Joshua Posaner, a POLITICO transport reporter, talks us through a big week for the automotive sector. Allegations of a massive cartel in the German auto sector prompted soul-searching at the European Commission. Their response was to create a new role, which may as well be called Vice President for Sorting Out The Car Sector, given to Vice President  Jyrki Katainen. The U.K. also became the latest country after France and Norway to announce it will ban petrol and diesel cars. The catch: the ban will only kick in 23 years from now.In "EU WTF," our Brussels brains trust, Lina Aburous and Ailbhe Finn, discuss the European Commission's decision promote six men and no women to the top civil service rank, on the same day the institution released its new staff diversity policy.And in our Dear Politico section, we hear from yet another Parliament assistant: this one is worried about whether they will be linked for ever in search engines to their MEP's legally dubious behavior. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices