Brussels Playbook Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 69, presented by Corteva Agriscience: Bill Gates and Emmanuel Macron's youth wing Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

Bill Gates — billionaire tech founder turned philanthropist — is the main guest on this week's podcasts. We focus on why Europe is an aid superpower, what support Africa needs to cope with its exploding population, and why there's reason to believe the world is getting better. The podcast panel compares the world views of Gates and the nationalists winning support across Europe.

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Episode 68, presented by UNESDA: Manfred Weber wants to recast the European Commission presidency Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

In a wide-ranging interview Weber says Brussels is a "black box" that is disconnected from most Europeans (though he leads its biggest party in the European Parliament). His campaign pitch puts a premium on changing how the job of European Commission president is done: “When there are fires in Sweden or in Portugal and people dying in Greece, I think a commission president must be there to show up, to be present with the concerns of the people," Weber said.

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Episode 67, Alexander Stubb on why he should be European Commission president Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

Alexander Stubb lays out his pitch for the European Commission presidency in this week's episode. Stubb is competing with Manfred Weber to be the European Peoples Party's candidate for the post in 2019.

Stubb is leaning on his experience as a former prime minister and on a sharp expression of values. Nordic moderate, pragmatic and "a true European believer" who wants a "liberal democracy not an illiberal democracy.” Stubb says European values are under attack from "the U.S., China, Russia and from the inside" meaning countries like Poland, Italy, Romania, and Hungary.

After claiming to be a "next generation" EU leader, Stubb (who is 50) joked that he's "next generation with bifocals." Can you guess who he names as his political hero?

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Episode 66, presented by Qualcomm: OSCE chief — Montenegro's foreign minister — MEP expenses Sep 27, 2018

Show notes

Ukraine, the Balkans, MEPs' expenses, fake news and fallout from the Salzburg summit are all on the menu this week. Our main guests are Thomas Greminger, head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srdjan Darmanovic.

News editor Andrew Gray stands in again as host for the honeymooning Ryan Heath. But Ryan still features in the podcast, with an interview he recorded with Greminger, secretary general of the OSCE, at the European Forum Alpbach in Austria. Greminger talks to Ryan about the OSCE's role in keeping a lid on the conflict in Ukraine — and what it will take to create a lasting peace there.

Before that, POLITICO's chief Europe correspondent Matthew Karnitschnig talks us through his interview with Montenegrin Foreign Minister Darmanovic at another gathering with a mountain backdrop — the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia. Darmanovic talks about Donald Trump suggesting World War III could start in Montenegro, relations with Russia and his take on a possible Kosovo-Serbia land swap.

And our podcast panelists, Lina Aburous and Alva Finn, chew over big stories from the last seven days, including the European Court of Justice ruling that members of the European Parliament don’t have to account for €100 million worth of expenses every year. Will anyone dare to defend that?

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Episode 65, presented by Google: Emily O'Reilly — Vestager vs. German carmakers — Macron's job tips Sep 20, 2018

Show notes

EU watchdog Emily O'Reilly is our main guest this week. Before heading off to get married, regular host Ryan Heath sat down for a candid chat with the European ombudsman in Strasbourg.

Among the many topics covered: the Irish former journalist's investigation into the European Commission’s promotion of Martin Selmayr — Jean-Claude Juncker’s right-hand man — and why O'Reilly believes that Donald Trump shows transparency has its limits.

News editor Andrew Gray steps into Ryan's shoes to host the show and chats to Christian Oliver, POLITICO's competition and trade editor, and Nick Vinocur, technology editor and former Paris correspondent, about some of the week's big stories. They discuss EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager's move against German carmakers and Amazon — and ponder Emmanuel Macron's advice to an unemployed gardener.

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Episode 64, presented by Qualcomm: Lyor Cohen — Alain Deneef — Democracy festival Sep 13, 2018

Show notes

This week, a bona fide music mogul. Lyor Cohen has been in the business for 37 years, working with musicians who define memories and eras — think the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Public Enemy, all signed by his iconic Def Jam label.

These days, Cohen is YouTube’s global head of music. He spoke to EU Confidential ahead of this week’s big vote on copyright in the European Parliament. He talks about how the music business has changed and how he sees its future.

Also this week, we talk to Alain Deneef, the founder of a new festival of European democracy called Jubel, taking place on September 22 in Brussels. Deneef explains the ideas behind the festival — and promises that, even though it’s in the European quarter, there will be no men in suits.

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Episode 63, presented by Qualcomm: Dimitris Avramopoulos — Selmayrgate — Election fever Sep 06, 2018

Show notes

Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, sets out how the Commission plans to fighting back against populist attempts to hijack the migration agenda.
Avramopoulos outlines controversial tactics: working with hardliners to achieve one of their goals, controlled migration flows, but with different means.
The Commission plans to propose next week a "genuine border police" to ensure a “controlled and orderly” migration system, and to increase returns of people whose applications for asylum are rejected.
He calls populist leaders like Italy's Matteo Salvini “smart,” but says they "do not offer practical European solutions on migration.“
Our podcast panel discusses the EU watchdog's conclusion that the Commission possibly "overstretched" the rules in appointing Martin Selmayr as its top civil servant. And we also look at the latest maneuvering as the European election campaign gets into gear.

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Episode 62 — Inside Europe's right-wing extremist groups with Julia Ebner Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

This week's episode revolves around two political hot topics: how Europe should manage the growth of far-right politics across the continent, and whether to support redrawing the borders of Serbia and Kosovo along ethnic lines.

Julia Ebner, author of The Rage, is a fascinating interview: she takes you inside far-right parties and networks, how they organize, why they appeal to certain people, and what we can expect from Steve Bannon's "ability to be a chaos agent” as he moves into the fringes of European politics ahead of the 2019 European election.

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Episode 61: Brexit scenarios unpacked — Headscarf-free holidays Aug 23, 2018

Show notes

This week we hit peak Barnier — the height of the EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier's influence — and the U.K. published its Brexit no-deal contingency plans. We run through the dangers and the dramas ahead with Jill Rutter and Joe Owen from the Institute for Government in London. On the podcast panel with Lina Aburous and Alva Finn, we discuss their reactions to a Swiss holiday accommodation business that's decided to ban women who wear headscarfs.

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Episode 60: Summer stories — Tattoos to potatoes — Bridge blame game Aug 16, 2018

Show notes

This week, we mix the format up: not one guest, but many. We've asked POLITICO reporters to talk us through stand-out stories they've produced this summer.

Ginger Hervey and Jillian Deutsch talk about the EU getting under the skin of the tattoo industry, and its 4,000 unregulated chemicals. (https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-tackles-tattoo-ink-safety-regulation-inking-european-chemicals-agency/)

Carmen Paun discusses her postcard from Romania, reflecting on how emigration has changed a village she's known since childhood. (https://www.politico.eu/article/intorsura-romania-village-migration-feels-the-countrys-emigration-pain/)

Kait Bolangaro goes on a field trip: to visit a potato farmer who's had his crop wiped out by the heat, threatening supplies of the national dish of frites. (https://www.politico.eu/article/belgian-frites-fry-in-the-heat-summer-drought-french-fries/)

And Simon Marks walks us through his investigation revealing Greece's lifeline to the Syrian regime through the import of phosphates, a fertilizer ingredient. (https://www.politico.eu/article/syria-europe-greece-throws-lifeline-bashar-al-assad-by-buying-phosphates/)

And of course we also hear from our regular panelists, Alva Finn and Lina Aburous, with our roundup of EU WTF moments of the week, including the political blame game surrounding the Genoa bridge collapse.

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