Brussels Playbook Podcast

The EU is struggling to land a new deal on consumer protections for airline passengers. After a week of intense negotiations that ultimately failed, transport ministers are meeting today to discuss the current state of play. The main sticking points: rules on compensation for delayed flights and the ease of filing these compensation claims. Also on the show, the far-right National Rally is leading...

The European Commission has finally unveiled its long-awaited tech sovereignty package — a push to make Europe less dependent on foreign technology after years of relying on U.S. cloud services, chips, AI infrastructure and digital tools. Sarah Wheaton is joined by former MEP Marietje Schaake, author of The Tech Coup and POLITICO’s Laurens Cerulus to ask what happens when the systems running Europ...

With a slowing economy, soaring energy costs and mounting pressure on defense spending, PM Giorgia Meloni faces an uphill battle in next year’s Italian election. Amid all this, Zoya and Ian discuss how a recent European Commission decision to exempt certain green investments from its public-spending rules is a small win for the Italian leader. They dig deeper into the thought process behind this m...

Today the Commission will publish its European Semester Spring Package, a checkup on EU countries’ economies. But the news isn’t too good. The report warns that over a million jobs across Europe could be lost in the coming years as a result of high energy costs, competition from abroad and the green transition. On the pod, Zoya and Ian discuss these major labor market challenges. Also happening to...

As the EU prepares to target Russia’s shadow fleet in the 21st sanctions package, we’re looking at the system that keeps these ships in business. Every one of these Russian vessels carrying sanctioned goods requires port access, crews, financial services and more to stay operational. On today’s episode, Zoya Sheftalovich and Sarah Wheaton pinpoint insurance in particular. They explain how, even th...

The EU is edging closer to one of its most controversial migration policies yet: sending failed asylum seekers to return hubs outside the bloc. Zoya Sheftalovich and Nick Vinocur discuss the latest negotiations over tougher deportation rules, why countries are already exploring potential deals from Albania to Central Asia, and why critics warn the plans could create offshore detention centers. The...

Is the EU finally ready to get serious about China? That’s the question increasingly dominating conversations in Brussels as fears grow that Europe is being squeezed by Beijing’s industrial machine. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Sander Tordoir from the Centre for European Reform, Grzegorz Stec from MERICS and POLITICO’s Jordyn Dahl to discuss the European Commission's attempts to forge a common...

Europe’s far right is yet again under the microscope as a European Parliament watchdog moves to ban the Alternative for Germany’s EU party. On the show, Zoya Sheftalovich and Sarah Wheaton discuss how the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations party — home to Germany’s AfD — risks losing EU funding and even its status as a political party. In a 300-page letter, the Authority for European Political...

Brussels is beefing up its intelligence machinery. Zoya Sheftalovich and Kathryn Carlson talk about the growing role of INTCEN — the EU’s little-known intelligence-analysis hub inside the European External Action Service — and the quiet power struggle brewing between Kaja Kallas’ diplomatic service and Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission over who gets to handle sensitive security information in Brus...

Europe is still reeling from the recent drone incursions into Baltic airspace. In a show of solidarity, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius are in Lithuania today following last week’s drone scare. Today on the Brussels Playbook Podcast, we unpack the latest developments, including discussions about Baltic companies teaming up with Ukrainian firms to...

There’s an ominous backdrop to this year’s GLOBSEC forum in Prague as the war in Ukraine strays into the skies over NATO’s Eastern flank. The last few weeks have seen an increasing number of drone incursions in the Baltics — Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia — across EU airspace. And there are questions over America’s commitment to European security ahead of an important NATO summit in Ankara in July,...

With drone alerts, emergency shelters and fighter jets over the Baltics, Europe’s security fears suddenly feel much less theoretical at the GLOBSEC forum in Prague. On the ground in Czechia for the Brussels Playbook Podcast, Zoya Sheftalovich and Nick Vinocur unpack the growing wave of drone incursions linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine. They also discuss why Baltic leaders are sounding the alarm a...

Brussels is discovering that cutting red tape may be harder without actual experts in the room. As the EU races ahead with its deregulation drive, concerns are growing over rushed lawmaking, weaker safeguards and the sidelining of technical specialists. Then, EU leaders are exploring ways to make Russia sanctions harder to block — including extending renewal deadlines from six months to a year — a...

After years of Hungary’s former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocking Ukraine’s path to join the EU, Budapest and Kyiv are talking again. That has Brussels wondering if Hungary might finally be softening its position on Ukrainian accession. Today on the pod, Nick and Ian discuss why joining the bloc is so important to the war-torn nation and why — even if the mood is shifting in Budapest — it’s unl...

The European Commission is preparing to take a much tougher line on China, we hear on this episode of the Brussels Playbook Podcast, with Zoya Sheftalovich joined by Nick Vinocur. Brussels is growing increasingly worried about cheap imports, industrial decline and dependence on Chinese critical raw materials. Then: Despite 20 EU sanctions packages against Russia, a major investigation reveals how...

Welcome to the very first edition of the Brussels Playbook Week Ender. Anne McElvoy travels to the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, an annual event that brings together defenders of democracy in the Danish capital. As U.S. President Donald Trump visits China and the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran remain unresolved, how is Europe grappling with crises on multiple fronts? Anne sits down with two influent...

One of the Commission’s oldest and most powerful departments may be heading for a dramatic overhaul — or even extinction.  DG REGIO oversees the hundreds of billions of euros that go towards the social development of local regions and cities. But its potential restructuring by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is a clear sign that the EU's aims are shifting. Zoya and Ian explain the thinki...

Ukraine wants Europe more involved in peace efforts with Russia — but who exactly would represent Europe in those talks? After Vladimir Putin floated former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as a possible negotiator, Brussels reacted with disbelief. Host Zoya Sheftalovich and Nick Vinocur unpack the growing debate around Europe’s role in future peace negotiations, including Nick’s interview with...

When foreign ministers meet in Brussels today, Israel and Russia will likely dominate the agenda. Today on the pod, Zoya and Nick discuss why the bloc might finally be able to move forward on sanctioning several Israeli individuals involved with settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Plus, the EU is looking to move forward on a new round of sanctions towards Russia, hoping to pres...

We’re talking identity this week on EU Confidential — in more ways than one. First, host Sarah Wheaton sits down with Theresa Kuhn, professor of European studies at the University of Amsterdam, who has led a major research project tracking how European identity has evolved across the continent over the past five decades. At a moment when Europe feels tense, vulnerable and under pressure, Kuhn’s re...

Péter Magyar promised a full reset between Hungary and Brussels after Viktor Orbán’s defeat — but the EU may be ready to unlock only part of Hungary’s frozen billions. Zoya Sheftalovich, dialing in from Madrid, and Sarah Wheaton unpack the first possible tensions emerging between Brussels and post-Orbán Hungary. Then: a right-wing MEP is planning a trip to Russia — and inviting fellow lawmakers al...

The European Commission is unveiling its new anti-poverty strategy today. The only problem is ... it doesn’t include any new cash. On the pod, Zoya and Ryan discuss how the EU executive is justifying the lack of new funding in this plan. They also look at how likely the bloc is to reach its target of eradicating poverty by 2050 (spoiler alert: not very likely). That’s not the only strategy on the...

Political parties are misspending their cash, while the public is left in the dark about what’s going on. The European Parliament’s department of finance found political parties and foundations had misspent €1.5 million during the 2024 EU election campaign. Zoya and Ian discuss which parties are the biggest offenders. They also explain how the Parliament — with the help of complex bureaucratic pro...

Europe yet again finds itself on the receiving end of Donald Trump’s ire.  On Friday, the U.S. president threatened to raise tariffs on European cars to 25 percent, as frustration grows in Washington over the slow pace of an EU-U.S. trade deal. Trump had also called for withdrawing U.S. troops from Germany earlier in the week as a response to German leader Friedrich Merz’s sharp criticism of the I...

The European Central Bank will meet today and make a decision that depends heavily on events happening thousands of kilometers away.  That’s because the war in Iran has pushed up energy prices and inflation. ECB President Christine Lagarde and her fellow rate-setters will be in a tricky spot when deciding whether to raise borrowing costs. Zoya and Ian explain the dilemma. The conflict in the Middl...