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: https://www.politico.eu/eu-confidential-podcast/
Episodes
October 9, 2025 • 47 mins
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 St...
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October 2, 2025 • 37 mins
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 —...
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September 25, 2025 • 33 mins
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 wh...
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September 18, 2025 • 42 mins
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, a...
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September 11, 2025 • 38 mins
“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 t...
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September 4, 2025 • 36 mins
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 ...
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August 28, 2025 • 36 mins
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 Gon...
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August 21, 2025 • 33 mins
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 Br...
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July 31, 2025 • 35 mins
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 i...
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July 17, 2025 • 38 mins
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 i...
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July 10, 2025 • 41 mins
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 s...
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July 3, 2025 • 38 mins
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...
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June 26, 2025 • 35 mins
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 Wheato...
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June 19, 2025 • 44 mins
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 build...
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June 12, 2025 • 41 mins
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 La...
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June 5, 2025 • 39 mins
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...
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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 Eur...
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May 22, 2025 • 38 mins
The EU-Israel relationship is at a tipping point.
This week on EU Confidential, host Sarah Wheaton breaks down how EU leaders are calling for scrutiny of a long-standing trade agreement between Brussels and Israel, as Gaza faces famine amid an ongoing Israeli military offensive.
Rym Momtaz, editor-in-chief of the Strategic Europe blog at Carnegie Europe and an expert on European and Middle Eastern politics, joins to explain wha...
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May 15, 2025 • 29 mins
Those text messages Ursula von der Leyen didn’t want to share? The EU’s top court says that’s not OK.
In a win for transparency advocates, Europe’s judges have ruled that the European Commission was wrong to hold back von der Leyen’s text exchanges with Pfizer’s CEO during vaccine contract negotiations. POLITICO health reporter Mari Eccles joins host Sarah Wheaton to unpack what the ruling means for Brussels, for von der Leyen’s l...
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May 8, 2025 • 30 mins
Europe’s political center is wobbling. Again.
In Germany, a dramatic Bundestag vote leaves new Chancellor Friedrich Merz bruised before he’s even begun. In Romania, the first round of the presidential election wipes out the mainstream — and puts a Trump-admiring provocateur on top.
EU Confidential breaks down a week of shaken coalitions, rising populists, and what they all say about the shifting balance of power in Europe.Host Sa...
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