MCC Brussels Podcast

In this episode host Jacob Reynolds is joined by MCC Brussels research fellow Richard Schenk and Carl Deconinck of Brussels Signal to discuss the growing struggle over democracy, surveillance and political opposition in Europe. First, the panel turns to Marine Le Pen and the French presidential race. With Le Pen again able to contemplate a 2027 run but facing the extraordinary prospect of campaign...

For more than a century, the car has expanded personal freedom, economic opportunity and independence. Yet across Europe, policymakers increasingly treat driving itself as a problem to be managed away. In this MCC Brussels Deep Dive, John O’Brien speaks to Brussels lobbyist Conor Allen about Europe’s growing hostility to the car, from traffic policies designed to discourage driving to the regulato...

In this episode, why has air conditioning suddenly become a political dividing line in Europe? Will Ireland’s EU presidency push Brussels further into NGO funding, speech regulation and woke priorities? And is the crisis at Volkswagen a warning of what the Green Deal is doing to Europe’s industrial base? Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Richard Schenk and James Holland, a parliamentary adviser and...

In this episode: Is the Democracy Shield really about protecting elections from foreign interference, or about policing dissent at home? Ten years after Brexit, did the EU learn from Britain’s revolt, or double down on the federalist habits that caused it? And why is Brussels talking to the Taliban - realpolitik at last, or geopolitical naivety dressed up as diplomacy? Host Jacob Reynolds is joine...

In this episode: is Péter Magyar restoring Hungarian democracy, or using constitutional power to remove his main rival? Does the export controls and shutdown of Anthropic’s Mythos model show how desperately far behind the EU is on cutting-edge technology?  And has the EU Transparency Register become a neutral accountability tool, or a bureaucratic weapon against dissenting voices in Brussels? Host...

In this MCC Brussels Deep Dive, John O’Brien speaks to Professor Samuele Furfari, one of Europe’s most experienced voices on energy policy. Furfari spent decades inside the European Commission working on energy and sustainable development. His warning is blunt: Europe’s energy crisis did not begin with the war in Ukraine. It began when EU policymakers abandoned the old priority of cheap, abundant...

In this episode, is Belgium becoming a warning sign for the rest of Europe? Has the EU’s obsession with digital regulation made Europeans technologically weaker? And are American conservatives right to call out Europe’s migration crisis, or is Europe being talked down to again? Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by MCC’s Richard Schenk and Lennert Van Hauwermeiren from the Flemish Institute for Policy...

In this episode: Is Trump’s 4 July deadline a tariff threat, or a demand for reciprocity from Brussels? Can “remigration” be defined as lawful return policy without sliding into something more dangerous? And do the Paris riots after PSG’s Champions League victory expose a deeper crisis of law, order and elite denial in Europe’s cities? Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Richard Schenk and Paul McCar...

In this episode: is Bart de Wever’s Belgium a genuine model for reform, or a warning about how difficult reform has become? Has Europe really shifted right on migration, deportations and return hubs? And as Brussels demands more money for defence, Ukraine, migration and industrial policy, who is actually going to pay? Host John O’Brien is joined by Dr Philipp Siegert from MCC Brussels and Carl Dec...

Britain’s political class thought populism could be contained through censorship, speaker bans and moral blackmail. Instead, the revolt is spreading. In this episode, host John O’Brien is joined by Frank Furedi and Richard Schenk to examine the growing divide between Europe’s governing elites and ordinary citizens. From the huge “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London to Brussels’ ideological campaign...

In this episode: Has Reform UK’s surge shattered Britain’s old Labour-Conservative order? Are the UN and EU using migration policy to weaken national control over borders? And has Eurovision become yet another stage for anti-Israel politics? Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Richard Schenk and Barbara Bonte, MEP for Vlaams Belang in the Patriots for Europe group. First, the panel turns to the local...

Germany’s governing centre is cracking, Europe’s energy follies are becoming impossible to ignore, and Brussels is spending millions telling citizens it protects democracy. In this episode, we ask whether Friedrich Merz survive Germany’s deepening political and economic crisis. Is Belgium’s nuclear U-turn a sign that common sense is finally returning to European energy policy? And what does the EU...

The European Commission has mutated from a body of cooperation into a monster that even its own founders no longer recognise. Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Carl Deconinck of the Brussels Signal and MCC Brussels’ Richard Schenk to discuss a week of institutional overreach in the European capital. They break down the flurry of proposals to rein in Ursula von der Leyen, the prospect of "clima...

The European Court of Justice has issued a first-of-its-kind ruling against Hungary, declaring its child-protection laws in breach of “fundamental EU values”. Celebrated in Brussels as progress, it raises a more troubling question: has the Court just claimed the power to define Europe’s moral compas?   In this episode, Jacob Reynolds, Richard Schenk, and special guest Stephen Bartulica MEP break d...

Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure with a landslide victory. While the Berlaymont and the European mainstream celebrate the fall of their favourite villain, the MCC Brussels team digs into the uncomfortable reality of what this means for the European Right and the future of national sovereignty. In this episode, Jacob Reynolds, Tony Gilland, and Agnieszka Kolek break down the strategic lessons of the F...

Brussels does not change course lightly. When it does, it is usually forced. This week, something shifted.   Jacob Reynolds is joined by Marieke Ehlers MEP and Agnieszka Kołek to dissect a rare moment where the European Parliament moved in a direction voters have been demanding for years. A tougher return regime has been backed, giving member states the tools to send illegal migrants back and reas...

Europe’s old parties are losing their voters, free speech is coming under pressure, and trust in the media is collapsing. In this episode, we look at three fault lines running through European politics. Why are the old social democratic parties no longer the natural home of workers? What happens when courts and governments begin narrowing the space for moral and political dissent? And why are so m...

While the Brussels machine churns out endless reports on "Strategic Autonomy," the reality on the ground different. Professor Bill Durodié joins us to expose the cavernous gap between EU security rhetoric and the stark reality of a continent that has forgotten how to inspire its own people to defend it. Is there anyone left in the Berlaymont who understands that a flag without a demos is...

The war in Iran didn’t create Europe’s energy crisis, it hit a continent already drowning in Green energy chaos and sky-high taxes. This week on the podcast, John O'Brien sits down with Rebecca Mistereggen and Richard Schenk to discuss the energy fallout of the Iran war, the judicial sabotage of democratic mandates in Italy, the rising tide of Islamist extremism on our doorsteps, and the cyni...

Brussels is terrified of a nation it cannot control. While the Euro-elites plot to unseat Viktor Orbán through legal warfare and funded proxies, Professor Werner Patzelt joins Richard Schenk to reveal the truth behind the "Brussels vs. Budapest" saga. From the weaponisation of "Rule of Law" to the rise of the EU-backed opposition, this is the honest account of a rebellion the m...

In this episode, we talk about the EU’s unprecedented digital interference in the Hungarian election, the undemocratic "Cordon Sanitaire" rigging French local politics, and the shameful rise of anti-Semitic violence in Belgium and the Netherlands. Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by MCC Brussels’ Head of Cultural Engagement Agnieszka Kolek and Research Fellow Richard Schenk to discuss the E...

The Ireland you remember- high-trust, community-led, and fiercely independent - is being systematically dismantled. Dr Eoin Lenihan joins John O'Brien to expose the "vandalism" of a nation by an elite class that never asked for the public’s permission. This is the truth the Irish establishment tried to bury.  The Demolition of Identity: First, the rapid transformation of Ireland fro...

In this episode, we dissect the "asymmetric mayhem" of the Iranian conflict , the erratic "geopolitical" flip-flopping of Ursula von der Leyen , and the disturbing attempt to institutionalise the Cordon Sanitaire in Belgium. Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by Lennart van Hauwermeiren and Agnieszka Kolek to strip away the diplomatic niceties.  What's the Endgame? The panel ex...

While the world burns, the technocrats are busy drafting press releases for a Monday that never comes. Host Jacob Reynolds is joined by MCC’s Richard Schenk and Jerzy Kwaśniewski (President of the Ordo Iuris Institute) to expose the reality of a Europe that has become a mere bystander to history. We’re cutting through the mealy-mouthed rhetoric in this week’s podcast: from the EU's total irre...

Viktor Orbán is once again enemy number one in Brussels. This time, it’s because he has promised to halt EU aid to Ukraine until  oil starts flowing again through a pipeline controlled by Ukraine. Is this “big bad Orbán” spoiling the EU’s party, or a principled stand for Hungary’s interests at a critical time? Jacob Reynolds, Agnieszka Kolek, and Philipp Siegert talk about Orban's decision on...