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PODCAST

EU Confidential

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:

news politics

All Episodes

35:21

How to lose a Dutch election — and still win one

EU Confidential ·

2025/10/31

Is it enough to come first in an election? In the Netherlands, you hear that centrist Rob Jetten won big and Geert Wilders’ far right lost a lot — even though either one could still turn out to be No. 1 when all the votes are counted. Eva Hartog breaks down the results of the Dutch election with host Sarah Wheaton, and Max Griera reflects on what Frans Timmermans’ defeat means for social democrats all over Europe.Then, our Berlaymont Who’s Who series is back, with an introduction to Vice President

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34:36

How about them assets — making Russia pay for Ukraine

EU Confidential ·

2025/10/24

The EU wants to lend €140 billion in cash from frozen Russian funds to Ukraine; Belgium is afraid it will be the one on the hook for paying it back. That’s just one of the tough topics EU leaders discussed as they gathered in Brussels at a meeting devoted to fighting the external threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin — and the internal threat from the far right. POLITICO’s Gregorio Sorgi breaks down why lending Russian frozen assets is so tricky, while host Sarah Wheaton catches up with

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37:08

How to go from hero to zero, with Emmanuel Macron and...

EU Confidential ·

2025/10/17

French President Emmanuel Macron has gone from “Mr. Europe” eight years ago to the solitary man by the Seine. At the same time, ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s legacy is also going through a sudden and sharp downgrade. How did these centrist pillars of Europe tank so quickly? With parties on the far right and far left rising up in their place, are citizens actually becoming more extreme — or are they just fed up?To discuss these questions, host Sarah Wheaton was joined by John Kampfner — an

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47:27

How not to fall: Behind von der Leyen’s fightback and...

EU Confidential ·

2025/10/10

While the French government collapses in Paris, Ursula von der Leyen stands unshaken in Strasbourg. It’s been a week of political tremors — some performative, others seismic. Just three months after facing her first motion of censure, the European Commission president was hit with not one but two new attempts to topple her — and once again held firm.Host Sarah Wheaton talks with Sophia Russack of the Centre for European Policy Studies about the history of no-confidence votes — and the unlikely

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37:33

Humiliating Europe: Trump’s culture war and the EU’s...

EU Confidential ·

2025/10/03

What do Donald Trump’s culture war, Moldova’s EU ambitions, and Czechia’s upcoming parliamentary election have in common? They all reveal how Europe is being tested — and sometimes humiliated.In this episode of EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Paweł Zerka, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, about his new report. It argues that Trump is waging a deliberate culture war against Europe — trying to weaken the continent, polarize its politics, and strip it

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33:24

Escalating trouble – Trump takes on the UN and Europe

EU Confidential ·

2025/09/26

Trump says Ukraine can win — but should Europe believe him?At a hectic U.N. General Assembly in New York, U.S. President Donald Trump stunned world leaders with a dramatic rhetorical reversal on the war in Ukraine, mocking Russia as a “paper tiger” and urging NATO allies to shoot down Russian aircraft. Host Sarah Wheaton unpacks what this means with POLITICO’s Clea Caulcutt and Nick Vinocur, reporting from Manhattan — and asks whether Europe can trust Trump’s new tune. Then we turn to a different

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42:18

Jourová’s secrets and Putin’s drone tests

EU Confidential ·

2025/09/19

From rule of law battles to inside stories, Věra Jourová looks back on a decade in the Berlaymont. The former European Commission vice president recalls her clashes and alliances in Brussels — from sparring with Frans Timmermans to discovering that Thierry Breton never laughed at her jokes. Now back in Prague as vice rector of Charles University and adviser to President Petr Pavel, she reflects on Czech politics, Europe’s future, and life after stepping back from frontline politics. She has also

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38:44

Ursula’s Fight Song — who’s singing along?

EU Confidential ·

2025/09/12

“Europe is in a fight.”With those words, Ursula von der Leyen set the tone for her State of the European Union speech — framing this as Europe’s “Independence Moment.” She proposed sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers over Gaza; floated using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine; and backed calls for a drone wall to protect the bloc's eastern flank against Russia. She also pledged action on jobs, poverty and housing. But were those fighting words enough to bridge the gap between promises and

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36:20

Tyrants are forever: Has Europe missed its moment?

EU Confidential ·

2025/09/05

Under the jackhammers on Schuman, Brussels is filling back up for the rentrée — and the fault lines are showing.Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by colleagues Clea Caulcutt, Nick Vinocur and Paul Dallison to unpack a cliff-edge week: France’s confidence vote on an austerity budget that could topple Prime Minister François Bayrou and push Paris back into chaos; Europe’s next moves on Ukraine; and Ursula von der Leyen’s big address in Strasbourg on the EU’s place in a shifting world. It’s a tough speech

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36:55

Limping through the Trump era: Can Europe lead again?

EU Confidential ·

2025/08/29

From a picturesque mountain resort in Austria, at the European Forum Alpbach, host Sarah Wheaton unpacks fresh threats by the U.S. to hit countries with tariffs over their digital rules — drawing instant reactions from the European Commission’s Sabine Weyand and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. She then sits down with former Spanish Foreign Minister — now dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po — Arancha González Laya, to ask how Europe can move from “limping along” to

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33:18

EU's sweaty summer — what you missed (and what matters)

EU Confidential ·

2025/08/22

Just when we thought we could get a break for the summer, geopolitics had other plans.This week on EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO colleagues Jordyn Dahl, Gabriel Gavin and Jan Cienski for a catch-up on what moved while the bubble was at the beach. From Alaska to the White House: Did anything real shift on Ukraine beyond choreography? We break down the EU-U.S. tariff framework and turn to Gaza — where Brussels is grasping for some sort of leverage — and how the politics

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36:28

Escape the EU Bubble: Expert Summer Book Picks

EU Confidential ·

2025/08/01

This week, we’re taking a breath. EU Confidential is stepping away from summits, trade battles, and late-night trilogues — and turning to something more refreshing: books.Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by audio producer (and self-confessed book nerd) Dionisios Sturis for this special summer reading edition. From sharp political non-fiction to playful fiction, poetry and literary escapes, we’re sharing what EU insiders are packing in their holiday bags — and what they think you should read this

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39:11

The €2 trillion question: Inside the battle over the...

EU Confidential ·

2025/07/18

Trillions of euros, almost as many priorities — and just over two years to agree. The European Commission has unveiled its sweeping new seven-year budget proposal, and the fight over where the money goes is already heating up.Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by POLITICO’s Gregorio Sorgi and Bartosz Brzeziński to break down the big winners and losers in the 2028–2034 MFF (Multiannual Financial Framework, as the EU's long-term budget is known) — from slashed farm spending to a five-fold boost for

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42:47

No-confidence vote: Is the EU Parliament about to break?

EU Confidential ·

2025/07/11

Ursula von der Leyen survived a motion of censure — but not without sustaining damage. In Strasbourg, tensions within her pro-European coalition burst into the open, with allies accusing her party of flirting with the far right (again) and warning they could soon turn on her.In this bumper episode, host Sarah Wheaton — who made the journey to Strasbourg — brings you insight from behind the scenes in the European Parliament. She speaks with Gheorghe Piperea, the Romanian hard-right MEP who authored

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39:17

Boiling in Brussels: Climate fights and Orbán vs. Pride

EU Confidential ·

2025/07/04

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

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36:02

Of Daddies and Queens — from Trump to von der Leyen —...

EU Confidential ·

2025/06/27

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

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45:53

What’s really behind Europe’s 5% defense push

EU Confidential ·

2025/06/20

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

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42:38

All about the €€€: How Bulgaria’s euro dreams could...

EU Confidential ·

2025/06/13

Bulgaria’s big step toward using the euro is a victory for European unity — but the country itself isn’t united on whether joining the common currency is a good idea. And if Sofia is actually jumping the gun, the risks to the whole eurozone are dire.Izabella Kaminska, POLITICO senior editor and finance expert, joins host Sarah Wheaton to unpack the pros and cons of ditching the lev for both Sofia and Brussels Then, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s former foreign minister and one of Europe’s

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40:44

Can Europe’s Trump counterpunch work? Sanctions,...

EU Confidential ·

2025/06/06

Trump is finally facing some resistance. Can Europe seize the moment?This week on EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton speaks with Swedish Member of the European Parliament Karin Karlsbro, just back from Washington, about how Brussels is reading the room in D.C. — and whether there’s any real appetite for a “beautiful trade deal” before Trump’s July tariff deadline. We also hear from POLITICO’s news editor Josh Berlinger in Paris and national security reporter Amy Mackinnon in Washington, as they

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33:49

Between a smack and a hard place — Poland votes,...

EU Confidential ·

2025/05/30

Slaps were exchanged — some literal, some political — and suddenly Brussels isn’t just watching from the sidelines.This week on EU Confidential, we dive into a whirlwind of action across the continent: a presidential toss-up coming up this Sunday in Poland; Brussels turning up the pressure on Hungary over LGBTQ+ rights; and the EU’s rare public rebuke of Israel’s Gaza offensive. Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls Putin “crazy” — but Europe is left wondering whether that means anything at all.Host Sarah

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