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EU Confidential

EU Confidential

By: POLITICO
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 EU Confidential is a weekly European news and politics podcast published every Friday by POLITICO Europe. Each 30-minute episode features POLITICO’s analysis of the top stories driving EU politics, as well as notable guests shaping European policy and deep-dive stories from around the Continent. It’s hosted by Sarah Wheaton, POLITICO’s chief policy correspondent, who is joined by reporters from around Europe. Discover our show notes for EU Confidential here: https://www.politico.eu/eu-confidential-podcast/POLITICO Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Boiling in Brussels: Climate fights and Orbán vs. Pride

    Boiling in Brussels: Climate fights and Orbán vs. Pride
    Jul 4 2025
    Europe baked, the Atomium shut early — and Brussels finally unveiled its long-delayed climate target. Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with POLITICO Climate Reporter Louise Guillot, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Nick Vinocur and EU Politics Reporter Max Griera about the EU’s new 2040 goal: What a 90 percent emissions cut really means, why critics say it’s already being softened, and how Denmark’s presidency of the Council of the EU plans to juggle climate, migration and more amid stormy politics. We also pull back the curtain on Ursula von der Leyen’s powerful gatekeeper, Bjoern Seibert — and on Viktor Orbán’s crackdown on Budapest Pride. Later, POLITICO’s Cities Correspondent Aitor Hernández-Morales joins to explore how Europe’s cities are navigating the heat — both political and literal — and why so many mayors are now turning to Brussels for help with urgent issues like housing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • Of Daddies and Queens — from Trump to von der Leyen — and who’s really in charge in Europe

    Of Daddies and Queens — from Trump to von der Leyen — and who’s really in charge in Europe
    Jun 27 2025
    This week’s episode of EU Confidential comes to you from the Europa building in Brussels. We’ve been covering not one but two high-stakes gatherings, starting with NATO’s June 24-25 summit in The Hague, where Donald Trump got the royal treatment. June 26 brought the EUCO summit in Brussels, where the real work began of figuring out how to fund the new 5 percent defense spending pledge that countries had taken on. Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO’s Clea Caulcutt and Nick Vinocur to unpack what went down at both meetings. Later we head into the real palace intrigue: The European Commission’s threat to pull a minor Green Deal law triggered a revolt among centrist lawmakers and is now raising big questions about Ursula von der Leyen’s political future. We break it down with POLITICO’s sustainability reporter Marianne Gros, senior climate correspondent Karl Mathiesen, and politics reporter Max Griera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    36 mins
  • What’s really behind Europe’s 5% defense push

    What’s really behind Europe’s 5% defense push
    Jun 20 2025
    As NATO leaders prepare to endorse a dramatic defense spending hike, Europe faces a reckoning: Where will the money come from — and will new tanks mean cuts to pensions? Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Michelle Haas, a defense analyst at Ghent University and an associate fellow at the Egmont Institute, about how the proposed 5 percent target is landing across the continent — and how countries are planning to fund the military buildup (or pretend to in order to placate Donald Trump). Then, two politicians, one from the center right and the other from the center left, explain why they think the push goes too far. Sammy Mahdi — leader of Belgium’s Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V), a party in the country’s governing coalition — calls the 5 percent goal “crazy.” Ralf Stegner, a senior German Social Democrat, co-authored a provocative manifesto urging Chancellor Friedrich Merz to invest in diplomacy, not militarization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    46 mins
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