Brussels Playbook Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep 137: Margrethe Vestager interview — Macron in Poland — Revisiting enlargement Feb 06, 2020

Show notes

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice president for digital, is the main interview guest in this week's EU Confidential podcast. She made a name for herself by taking on tech giants in her last job and her new role gives her even more clout. She tells POLITICO's Chief Technology Correspondent Mark Scott how she plans to use her new powers over the next five years.

The podcast panel dives into the new proposal to revamp the way the EU deals with would-be members. POLITICO’s Rym Momtaz takes us behind the scenes of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Poland. And in our first post-Brexit episode, we debate how the political plates will shift inside the EU — and who are Britain's best buddies inside the camp?

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Ep 136: Departing Brits debate — Huawei fallout — EU budget crunch Jan 30, 2020

Show notes

This episode of EU Confidential bids adieu (or is it au revoir?) to the U.K. as an EU member. You'll hear a lively debate with outgoing British MEPs Jude Kirton-Darling (Labour Party), Alex Phillips (Green Party) and Ann Widdecombe (Brexit Party) during their last days as members of the European Parliament.

POLITICO's tech editor Nick Vinocur and U.K. correspondent Annabelle Dickson unpack big moves from Britain and the EU on Chinese company Huawei's role in 5G telecoms networks in the face of U.S. pressure. And Brussels politics reporter Lili Bayer gets us up to speed on one of the biggest battles in the EU — over the next seven-year budget — ahead of a special summit on February 20.

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Ep 135, presented by Goldman Sachs: PM Xavier Bettel — Prof. Mary Beard — David Miliband Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

This EU Confidential episode comes to you from Davos, Switzerland where the POLITICO team has been covering the 50th edition of the World Economic Forum.

You'll hear an exclusive interview with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on the EU's Green Deal. We also talked Trump and Twitter with Mary Beard, professor of classics at the University of Cambridge, and heard from David Miliband about Europe's migration policy challenges.

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Davos Confidential #3, presented by Goldman Sachs: Trump address — Solvay's CEO — Quantum computing Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

On episode 3 of POLITICO's Davos Confidential podcast series, our Editor-in-Chief Stephen Brown breaks down Donald Trump's address on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum, and Florian Eder and Rym Momtaz discuss Trump's meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

POLITICO's Ryan Heath caught up with Ilham Kadri, the CEO of Solvay, a leading Belgian chemical company, about her company's new purpose. We also checked in with Achim Steiner, the head of the United Nations Development Programme. And we discuss quantum computing and its impact on our future with Arvind Krishna, senior vice president of cloud and cognitive software at IBM.

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Davos Confidential #2, presented by Goldman Sachs: Trump day — Workforce transformation Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

On Day 2 of Davos Confidential, we preview Donald Trump's much-anticipated speech at the World Economic Forum. Who's considered the most "controversial" among this high-powered crowd? POLITICO's Rym Momtaz, Stephen Brown and Florian Eder debate this question, as well as the impact of the climate movement on businesses.

POLITICO's Ryan Heath also discusses changes in the workforce and how companies are investing in up-skilling workers with Tim Ryan, senior partner and chairman of PwC U.S. And our producer Cristina Gonzalez checks in with Stu Eizenstat, a former U.S. ambassador to the EU, about U.S.-EU trade challenges, the impact of China on transatlantic relations, and the cloud of impeachment hanging over Trump's WEF appearance.

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Davos Confidential #1, presented by Goldman Sachs: World Economic Forum preview Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

POLITICO heads to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum this week — bringing you a special daily podcast series from the snowy mountains where some of the world's top political, business and civil society leaders gather annually to discuss pressing global challenges.

In this episode, POLITICO's Rym Momtaz, Ryan Heath and Cristina Gonzalez give us a taste of what to expect at the forum, where climate change seems to be the issue dominating the agenda. Ryan speaks with Ibrahim AlHusseini, an early Tesla and Uber investor who now heads investment firm FullCycle, who explains why businesses can no longer operate in a vacuum when it comes to the climate: “Even financial winners have to breathe the air. They’ll have to drink water,” AlHusseini said.

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Ep 134: Geopolitical tussles — EU's green cash — New Zealand's EU envoy Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

On this episode of EU Confidential, Europe is on the foreign policy defensive again after Russia and Turkey seized the initiative in Libya. But did Putin and Erdoğan overreach and could the EU step in to seal a deal? Meanwhile, Brussels presented a new fund this week to help Europe go carbon-neutral by 2050. Are the capitals counting on the EU to help them go green?

For our feature interview, New Zealand's outgoing ambassador to the EU and NATO, David Taylor, talks to POLITICO's EU Editor Andrew Gray. Taylor has spent years trying to do what Britain will soon try to do too — influence the EU from the outside. He gives us some diplomatic insight into how to advance your own country’s interests on trade, agriculture and other big issues without a seat at the top table.

We also look ahead to the World Economic Forum in Davos. POLITICO will be out in force to bring you daily podcasts from the gathering of global power-brokers — look out for the first Davos Confidential on Monday morning.

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Ep 133, presented by Gilead: Europe's Iran reaction — 2020 EU resolutions — New AIDS epidemic Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

The podcast welcomes the New Year with a spirited discussion about Europe's response to the U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Will the EU, France or the U.K. emerge as the power broker between Washington and Tehran or are Europe and its leaders mere bystanders?

The podcast crew members — Andrew Gray in Brussels, Rym Momtaz in Paris, Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin and Annabelle Dickson in London — also reveal the issues they expect to dominate the political agenda in 2020, and offer a few New Year's resolutions.

POLITICO health reporters Sarah Wheaton and Carmen Paun bring us a special deep-dive investigation into the modern face of a disease that transformed the world and changed the most intimate aspects of our lives. The New AIDS Epidemic is a POLITICO series looking at how the challenges for people living with HIV and AIDS and for medical professionals have mutated since the disease emerged.

In this episode, we hear the story of Luís Mendão, 61, who was diagnosed 23 years ago with full-blown AIDS. He now faces a challenge that once would have seemed an unthinkable luxury: growing old with HIV. You can read about his story here: https://politi.co/2t5v6in

The full series, under the banner Telescope, is available here: https://www.politico.eu/telescope-hub/

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Ep 132: Top 2019 moments — UK vote fallout — Deepfakes — Catalonia's Alfred Bosch Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

In the last episode of 2019, the EU Confidential podcast crew selects their top political moments of the year — from the launch of the Brexit party in the U.K., to the Ibiza affair that toppled the Austrian government, and finally to the sidelines of an EU summit and a rare, livestreamed look at the art of the backroom chat.

Our Artificial Intelligence Correspondent Janosch Delcker takes us on a deep dive into deepfakes — as manipulated videos start to cause political turbulence around the world.

And POLITICO's Emma Anderson sat down with Catalan Foreign Minister Alfred Bosch on his recent trip to Washington. Our episode airs just as the EU's highest court has ruled that Spain was wrong to keep pro-independence leader Oriol Junqueras behind bars and stop him taking up a seat in the European Parliament. Emma and the minister discussed that case ahead of the verdict.

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Ep 131, presented by ERT: EU summit — Climate confusion — Gentiloni on geopolitics Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

This week's podcast comes from the EU summit in Brussels, where new European Council President Charles Michel claimed agreement on the Continent going climate-neutral by 2050 ⁠— but Poland has other ideas. POLITICO's climate reporter Paola Tamma, budget reporter Lili Bayer, chief Brussels correspondent David Herszenhorn and EU editor Andrew Gray break down the big issues behind the summit. They also look at the implications for the EU's ambitions to be the world's climate leader and for another pressing agenda item: the EU's budget.

We hear from EU leaders including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. We also speak with EU Ministers Helen McEntee of Ireland and Tytti Tuppurainen of Finland.

Away from the summit, POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig talks to new European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni about the importance of the Mediterranean region in a geopolitical Commission.

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