Brussels Playbook Podcast

Despite the war in Iran and its economic consequences preoccupying London and Brussels, much work is going on behind the scenes to strike a closer relationship between the U.K. and the European Union.

Nearly a decade after Britain voted to leave the bloc, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has tasked his ministers with negotiating a post-Brexit reset that brings areas of the British economy in alignment with the EU in a bid to bring down prices and cut regulations on businesses.

In this interview episode of EU Confidential, host Anne McElvoy talks to one of Starmer's closest allies, Nick Thomas-Symonds. The U.K. Cabinet Office Minister has been notching up the Eurostar hours  back and forth to Brussels in a bid to strike a deal by the summer. Will he and his EU counterparts be able to agree a youth mobility scheme and alignment in key sectors of the economy or will their differences be too great to overcome?
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Bulgaria is heading towards another tight parliamentary election this month — and it wants the EU to help counter malign foreign interference.

Haunted by memories of coordinated social media campaigns targeting other countries in the region, the government is concerned that Russian misinformation could sway public opinion ahead of the vote. Host Zoya Sheftalovich and Ian Wishart, senior EU politics editor, discuss what tools Brussels has to counter foreign interference efforts. 

Also on the show, a Signal group chat with European Commission officials has been shut down over security concerns. But this isn’t an isolated case, it’s part of a series of cyberattacks targeting the EU executive branch.

Finally: We take a look at the Italian football fiasco that’s sparking a political row.

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An energy shock that once felt distant is starting to look very real as the war in Iran spirals ... and the EU is considering a Covid-style crisis response.

From emergency meetings to talk of jointly purchasing energy — host Zoya Sheftalovich and Senior EU Politics Editor Ian Wishart explain how some of the strategies being floated are straight out of the pandemic-era playbook.

Also on the pod, Péter Magyar is ahead in the polls in the lead-up to the Hungarian general election, but it’s by no means a slam dunk. According to some experts, years of gerrymandering and media capture by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party mean the opposition leader still faces an uphill challenge.

Finally, if you’re looking to buy a ticket to the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, you might be disappointed: Prices are soaring. In fact, MEPs have asked the Commission to look into FIFA’s opaque ticket-sale tactics.

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Europe is facing another potential energy shock — and this time, Brussels is starting to float something politically tricky: using less fuel.

Host Zoya Sheftalovich is joined by POLITICO’s senior EU politics editor Ian Wishart to break down a warning from Brussels that points to a possible need to cut fuel use, as fears grow of a prolonged disruption linked to the war in Iran.

They also zoom in on Kyiv, where EU foreign ministers are marking the anniversary of the Bucha massacre of March 2022 while pushing forward plans for a special tribunal to prosecute Russia’s war of aggression.

And back in Brussels, a €3.6 million plan from the Committee of the Regions is raising eyebrows — and prompting questions about priorities.

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For two decades, aspiring EU members wanted to join the bloc to get richer. Now, that’s changing.

With conflicts raging at Europe’s doorstep and NATO shaky under Donald Trump, even rich countries want to join the bloc, hoping it’ll help them feel safer. Zoya and Nick unpack this shift on today’s episode.

Also on the show, we trace Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s political journey from a liberal dissident to MAGA darling. As the leader continues to antagonize the EU, we ask what options the bloc has to minimize his influence in European political decision-making if he’s reelected in the upcoming election.

Finally: Russia is recruiting informants to spy on dissidents abroad. POLITICO got its hands on a cache of text messages and recordings between two intelligence agents and a student blackmailed into spying for the Kremlin. We discuss what the correspondence tells us about Moscow’s efforts to infiltrate opposition groups in Europe.

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