Talking Europe

The UN chief has called it an epidemic of coups. In Africa, since 2020, military officers have seized power, or attempted to do so, in numerous sub-Saharan countries. Just in the last two and a half months, soldiers in Gabon announced a takeover of power, while in Niger, members of the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum and announced that they were seizing power. Supporters of the new regime in Niger waved Russian flags, as did some of those who supported the coup in Mali in 2021. The sight of those flags has been a punch in the gut for France, which until recently regarded its former colonies as close allies. But the pro-Russian sentiment has also worried the European Union. What explains this pro-Russia feeling? And is there much the EU can do about it?

Enlargement of the European Union was one of the priorities outlined by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech on September 13th, and it is likely to become an ever more pressing issue over the next few years. After the speech, Talking Europe sat down with the EU Commissioner in charge of neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi. He is a distinguished Hungarian diplomat and lawyer. He served as Hungary's ambassador to the EU, and has held prominent positions at the Hungarian ministry of justice and ministry of foreign affairs.

It is time for Europe's September ritual – the State of the Union speech. It has been a highlight of the EU agenda for the last 13 years. Every year, the president of the European Commission sets out his or her priorities to the plenary session of the EU parliament. Talking Europe hosts two MEPs, both vice-presidents of their groups, to share their impressions of Ursula von der Leyen’s address in Strasbourg on September 13th.

Talking Europe hosts Pascal Lamy, co-ordinator of the Jacques Delors institutes, and a distinguished former head of the World Trade Organization and former EU Trade Commissioner. We discuss great power competition in today's world; the EU’s influence when it comes to global trade and regulation; the critical importance of Africa to Europe; and climate adaptation in the light of Lamy’s role as a member of the Climate Overshoot Commission. On Brexit, an issue on which Lamy has been a prolific commentator, his advice to the British Labour party is: "keep the idea that you have divorced, for political reasons, but keep sleeping together with Europe, because that’s the way to address the economic problem."

Since 1999, turnout in elections to the European Parliament has reached 50 percent only once. But with so many critical transnational issues facing the people of Europe – energy, inflation, the green transition and the post-Covid economic recovery – could the 2024 election campaign energise voters and reverse the low turnout trend? Ahead of next June's polls, we put that question to two of the top experts on public opinion in France.

On July 12, the landmark Nature Restoration Law was adopted in a cliffhanger vote at the European Parliament. Our guest, prominent Finnish MEP Heidi Hautala – who's one the parliament's vice-presidents – says she is "relieved" that the EU parliament now has a position to negotiate with the member states. She applauds the law as "step towards combating climate change", and decries what she calls the use of "fake news and disinformation" by far-right as well as right-wing parties on the nature restoration issue. Hautala also praises the EU parliament's recent approval of the corporate due diligence directive, saying "companies must unlearn old bad habits".

As tourism in Europe recovers from the lean years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the continent is once again confronted with what the European Parliament has termed "overtourism"; visitor numbers that can impact landscapes, seascapes, air and water quality, as well as the living conditions of local residents. Overtourism can cause economic inequality and even social exclusion. Our guests hail from two of the EU's most popular tourist destinations: Croatia and Spain. They discuss the economic benefits of tourism, as well as efforts to make it more sustainable.

Political groups in the European Parliament are on manoeuvres ahead of a key vote on the EU’s proposed Nature Restoration Law on July 12. The draft legislation is seen as key to restoring millions of hectares of degraded land across Europe, but it has already been rejected by three parliamentary committees. Our guest, Utrecht University scientist Andre Faaij, argues that the stalling of the law is a "tragedy", as what it "wants to achieve is very important for future food production", as well as for reforestation. Faaij addresses the many potential benefits of restoring damaged habitats, including responsible production of biofuels that could be crucial to Europe's energy transition and its quest for energy independence.

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization and the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Last summer was Europe's hottest on record, with thousands of excess deaths linked to heatwaves. The extremely dry conditions have major implications for agriculture and the supply of water. But authorities across the bloc are learning from the various crises, and they’ve updated their plans to fight one of the most immediate risks this summer: wildfires. In this show we take a look at those plans, and consider what other climate-related disasters EU countries should be anticipating – and in which areas they might work more closely together.

Talking Europe discusses European security with Gitanas Nausėda, the president of Lithuania. Ahead of next month's NATO summit in Vilnius, Nausėda urges a collective response to likely Wagner troop movements in Belarus. He also highlights the deployment of a permanent "full-fledged German brigade" in Lithuania and promotes a gradual approach towards European strategic autonomy.