Brussels Playbook Podcast1 Nov 2018

Episode 71, presented by Google: Malin Björk & Merkel's legacy

With Europe's eyes glued to Berlin this week as the effects of Angela Merkel's partial retirement are digested, this podcast episode looks at what happens now that she has more time to devote to EU-level challenges and reforms, but less political capital to spend on them. And what of Europe's increasingly fragmenting political center? A different European party runs each of the five biggest EU countries. The biggest party, the EPP, runs only one of the 12 biggest countries — Germany. Our interview guest this week is the left-wing Swedish MEP Malin Björk, one of the key players in Brussels on the EU’s controversial and sometimes unenforced refugee policies. She made the issue her priority because “it's a matter of life and death ... what kind of continent are we going to be?” In general, Björk doesn’t like the direction the EU is headed in, and she isn’t afraid to say so. She supports a 50-50 Parliament in terms of gender and in 2014 encouraged others on board a plane to refuse to buckle their seatbelts after she realized a fellow passenger was set to be deported to Iran. Our podcast panel picks the words they think sum up Merkel's legacy and savors this photo of European political grandees: https://twitter.com/ManfredWeber/status/1055842523736915968. Can you spot the poodle? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(635)

The EU’s plan for ‘weaponized’ migration

When Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives her big State of the European Union speech on Wednesday, the topic of migration is likely to feature heavily. On today’s show, Zoya Sheftalovich a...

14 Sep 16min

Is Europe winning the ‘fight’? Von der Leyen’s SOTEU, one year on

When Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivered her State of the European Union speech last year, the backdrop was chaotic. Russian drones had just crossed into Polish airspace, Donald Trump...

11 Sep 27min

Behind Trump's push to break the International Criminal Court

The U.S. is on a public campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court. Now, it wants help from its NATO allies. During a closed-door meeting back in July, U.S. envoy to NATO Matthew Whitake...

10 Sep 17min

The EU’s Israel dilemma

Relations between the EU and Israel have been deeply strained over the war in Gaza. But the bloc is struggling to withstand the allure of Israel’s tech and missile defense prowess. On today’s show, Z...

9 Sep 16min

Kaja Kallas takes another hit

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, wanted a group of heavyweight former leaders to come up with fresh ideas to address Europe’s defense gaps. Instead, the initiative was killed before it even launche...

8 Sep 16min

Germany's far-right bombshell

After a sweeping victory in the regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund's Alternative for Germany (AfD) could be in a position to govern the state — putting a far-right party in power in ...

7 Sep 20min

What do Spain's migrant crisis and Germany's knife-edge election mean for Europe?

The Spanish exclave of Ceuta on the North African coast is struggling to deal with a surge of unauthorized migrants. Over 70,000 arrived in a mass crossing from Morocco at the end of July, and althoug...

4 Sep 26min

Dublin tests Europe's budget red lines

At the informal General Affairs Council in Dublin today, the EU’s next 7-year budget is set to dominate the agenda. The talks are still in deadlock over the size of the money pot ... but the red line...

3 Sep 15min