Talking Europe

Europe must speed up its push for energy independence and break free from "excessive dependence on fossil fuels" as the continent grapples with a more volatile and hostile global order, the head of the world's largest public bank told FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert in Talking Europe.

Nadia Calviño, the president of the European Investment Bank, and a former deputy prime minister in the Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez, has been named one Europe's top "doers" by the digital news site Politico.

She is at the helm of one of the world's largest public lenders – which has set a funding goal of €100 billion this year alone – at a time when defence, security and tech sovereignty have catapulted to the top of the European agenda.

Calviño told FRANCE 24 that the green transition is a strategic necessity. "We need to continue on this track… so that we can become more independent and have a stronger voice in this new world."

That shift is also visible in the EIB's evolving priorities. While insisting in the past that the bank is "not a defence ministry", Calviño says the shifting global landscape has seen a sharp increase in the bank's support for security and defence-related projects, particularly dual-use technologies.

Funding has roughly doubled over the past two years, and could rise further. "I wouldn't exclude that we revise [targets] upwards in the course of the year," she said, pointing to growing demand as Europe seeks to scale up its capabilities.

Beyond geopolitics, Calviño highlighted a mounting domestic pressure point: Europe's housing crisis. Housing prices across the EU have surged by around 60 percent since 2015, with rents soaring and supply tightening.

"We've had a perfect storm since the pandemic," she said. The EIB plans to invest €6 billion this year in housing, focusing on cheaper construction methods, renovation of existing buildings and new projects as part of a broader push to ease pressure on households and younger generations.

On Ukraine, the EIB has emerged as a key financial backer since Russia's full-scale invasion, mobilising €4 billion to rebuild infrastructure, support businesses and keep the economy afloat.

Calviño expressed confidence in Ukraine's long-term prospects. "I am quite confident that the Ukrainian economy is going to bounce back very strongly once the war is over," she said, citing the resilience of its people and ongoing cooperation with Kyiv.

She also pushed back on the impact of US trade tensions under Donald Trump, arguing that tariffs have hit American companies harder than European ones.

EU firms, she said, are benefiting from a vast network of global trade agreements. In a fragmenting world, she insisted, Europe has the tools, and the scale, to act like the global economic superpower it is – if it chooses to use them.

Programme prepared by Paul Guianvarc'h, Perrine Desplats, Aline Bottin, Oihana Almandoz and Isabelle Romero

After Greenland and trade tariffs, US President Donald Trump is threatening European countries once again. If they fail to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, "it will be very bad for the future of NATO", Trump has said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made it clear that the US will make its own security decisions, whatever Europe thinks. Admittedly, Europe's own standing has been diminished by its inability to speak with one clear voice on this crisis, as on previous ones. Our guests evaluate the EU's response as US-Israeli strikes on Iran continue.

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Isabelle Romero, Perrine Desplats and Paul Guianvarc'h

Talking Europe travels to Warsaw to meet the mayor of the city and former presidential candidate Rafal Trzaskowski, just as the political temperature rises ahead of high-stakes parliamentary elections scheduled for next year. Trzaskowski argues that a long-standing consensus in Polish politics – being pro-European and pro-Ukraine – has been broken, as populist forces try to outdo each other in an effort to attract voters. Trzaskowski is an ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and was Civic Coalition's candidate in the June 2025 presidential election. He was elected mayor of Warsaw in October 2018.

Trzaskowski rounds on the conservative president of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, for opposing the EU Commission's flagship SAFE programme aimed at boosting European defence.

Trzaskowski says SAFE "is the best programme to strengthen our defence industry", and calls the president's veto "incredible", noting that "for years we had an agreement between us and all the other political forces when it came to strengthening Polish defence and security, helping Ukraine, and so on and so forth. That has been completely dismantled by President Nawrocki."

For Trzaskowski, "it seems that the president is much more interested in making the life of the current government more difficult, and in jostling for power with other populist parties, than in promoting the Polish national interest." 

Our guest places the president's decision on SAFE in the context of next year's parliamentary elections, with an eye to being "the most Eurosceptic in order to get the vote of the conservative electorate".

"The populists have decided to turn anti-European," he added. 

For Trzaskowski, that same competition between forces on the right is the reason why populists are "playing the anti-Ukrainian card. And unfortunately, this has some resonance among the people, not in Warsaw, because in Warsaw and in the big cities, people resoundingly keep on supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, but in some other places, yes, there are some people who are either tired with war or who unfortunately listen to the populists who are stoking up those anti-Ukrainian feelings".

But we put it to Trzaskowski that it is the current pro-EU government, which he is allied with, that has ended some free medical services that had been available to Ukrainians in Poland – not the conservative opposition.

"You know, we were the country which helped the Ukrainians the most", Trzaskowski responds. "And we had 400,000 refugees staying in Warsaw alone, staying in our houses. And we've granted them almost citizen-like treatment here when it comes to education and healthcare. But, after four years, the European Union as a whole has decided to limit some of those services, especially when it comes to long-term treatment of cancer and so forth."

Poland has long been seen as a very pro-Atlanticist country, but recent opinion polls suggest that Poles do not view Donald Trump nearly as favourably as they viewed other US presidents. Is that a reason for Poland to get on board with French President Emmanuel Macron's plans for European defence, and particularly with the possible extension of France's nuclear umbrella to other EU member states?

"Our position is that NATO is the the cornerstone of our security", Trzaskowski replies. "Of course, we should have the best possible relations with the Americans and try to do everything to make sure that they stay in Europe. But at the same time, we should do absolutely everything to invest in our defence and in European capabilities. And, by the way, that's exactly what Trump told us – that we should take it more seriously and take more responsibility. So yes, we should strengthen NATO guarantees but we should also consider the plans of President Macron and analyse them very seriously because, quite simply, you are going to be more secure in this part of Europe when you have strong transatlantic capabilities and strong Polish and European capabilities."

Programme prepared by Charlotte Prudhomme, Luke Brown, Paul Guianvarc'h and Perrine Desplats

MEPs recently approved a key report on housing, with the stated aim of securing decent, sustainable and affordable housing. They are responding to an EU-wide crisis in which property prices jumped by 15.5 percent between 2021 and 2024, according to Eurostat. That has frozen out millions of people looking to get onto the property ladder. Rental prices have continued to go up as well. Housing is a competence of member states, but there has been a push to do more at the EU level. We debate just how much Brussels should get involved, and whether the solutions it is proposing are workable.

To learn more about the works of the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the EU, click here.

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Oihana Almandoz, Aline Bottin and Isabelle Romero

It’s no secret that farmers across the EU have grown increasingly frustrated with the state of their industry. Profitability is falling, competition from abroad is fierce, and worries about paperwork and bureaucracy continue to mount. Fewer young people are taking over the family farm, opting for other careers instead. On top of these long-standing challenges, the war in Iran is adding new pressures, particularly with rising fertiliser costs. We sat down to discuss these issues with the EU’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen.

"The war going on in the Middle East is having a huge impact on our economy," Hansen tells us. "We have trade flows going through these lanes. We are dependent on imports from there when it comes to oil and LNG (liquefied natural gas). But also, fertilisers are going through the affected region. Production sites (for fertilisers) are halted. So, this is creating problems for the agricultural sector. And generally speaking, our economy will have issues to cope with the situation." 

For Hansen, the war highlights the EU’s vulnerability when it comes to supply chains. "One of our weaknesses is that we are heavily dependent on imports from third countries, on fertilisers and on energy," Hansen says. "Fertilizer prices were going up by 60% since 2020. So, this was already putting cereal producers really on edge. This is not a sustainable situation. We need to find solutions. We have the agricultural reserve, but this is of course not nearly sufficient. So, we have to find other possibilities to help farmers to cope with this situation." 

We ask Hansen if the Commission has made a risky political gamble by provisionally applying the controversial EU-Mercosur trade agreement (with Latin American countries), despite opposition from farmers, trade unions, and MEPs in the EU Parliament. 

"Well, it would not be the first time that a trade agreement is provisionally applied," Hansen answers. "There are precedents for that. And there was a very clear mandate from the (EU) Council side to go for this provisional application. The Parliament decided not to immediately vote on the consent. It is of course free to do so." Hansen is adamant that "many sectors are really wishing for this agreement. The wine and spirits sector; the dairy sector; the olive oil sector; the ham sector of Italy and Spain as well. This is the economic reality." 

Christophe Hansen insists that the Commission’s simplification agenda does not mean a watering down of environmental standards in agriculture, particularly when it comes to pesticides. This despite major concerns flagged up by the likes of the European Environmental Bureau and the Pesticides Action Network Europe. 

"The approval of products is currently a very long procedure which, unfortunately, is blocking, for example, the marketing of new biopesticides that are low-risk substances. Those (new products) have the same approval time - 7 to 8 to 10 years. This is too slow. And when I speak to the manufacturers of these new alternatives to the classic chemical products, they say, ‘well, we are going to move to the United States’. We funded the research, and then they go elsewhere because our procedures are too slow. That has to change. Otherwise, we will not be competitive with anybody in the world anymore." 

The EU is in a bind. EU institutions and many member states have condemned the Iranian government’s waves of repression against its own population. At the same time, the EU has said it would welcome a more democratic form of government in Iran.

At the same time, it does not want to appear too closely aligned with the US‑Israeli strikes on Iran, which some EU member states — particularly Spain — have said are outside international law. So how should the EU walk this tightrope? And how can it support the Iranian people in this very difficult military, economic and humanitarian context? Our MEPs discuss. 

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Aline Bottin, Oihana Almandoz, Paul Guianvarc'h and Isabelle Romero

 

Talking Europe sits down at the EU Commission with a man whose work goes to the very heart of what the EU sees as its core values. Michael McGrath is the Commissioner responsible for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection. His work concerns not just breaches of the rule of law in EU member states, but also the whole online dimension of democracy, including disinformation and foreign interference. Indeed, he now leads a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience.

We start with the war in the Middle East and ask McGrath whether he believes, as France and Spain have said, that the US-Israeli attacks on Iran are outside international law?

"Well, ultimately, it is for the international courts to give a definitive determination on that legal question," he answers. "But I think we have to remember here the absolute brutality of the Iranian regime and the brutality that they have perpetrated on their own people over many decades, including in recent weeks and in recent months."

"There is an obligation on all parties now to this conflict to behave in a responsible way; to minimise damage and civilian casualties," McGrath goes on. "It is appalling to see innocent lives being lost. And that must be avoided at all costs."

On the Iranian political dimension, McGrath states that "the outcome that we want to see here as a European Union is a system of governance in Iran that meets the needs of the Iranian people, and that they can be better served and better supported by a new form of government. Ideally, we would like to see a democratic government, a form of government that meets their needs and treats them in a far better and more humane way than the current Iranian regime has been doing for a long time."

On the obvious split between Spain and France on the one hand and Germany on the other when it comes to responding to the US and Israel, McGrath points out that the EU treaties make it clear that the Common Foreign and Security Policy "is determined on the basis of unanimity, at European Council level. So it's not for the European Commission or the External Action Service to arrive at a policy position and represent the European Union. It is led by the member states, and we have to be given a mandate to represent and reflect that body of opinion. Of course, on any significant international issues, it is difficult to achieve unanimity. That is the reality that we face."

'Rule of law is not an optional extra'

Turning to rule-of-law issues in Hungary and Slovakia, McGrath reminds us that "the rule of law is not an optional extra within the European Union. It is a binding obligation of EU membership". On Hungary, "a number of significant judgments are expected in the period ahead from the Court of Justice. And we have the Article 7 procedure that was triggered by the European Parliament back in 2018 – but the EU Council remains in ownership of that particular process".

When it comes to Slovakia, McGrath says that the Commission has "received responses from the Slovak authorities in relation to our two letters of formal notice, which constitute the initiation of an infringement process. We are considering those replies that we have received. And of course, action and positive movement is what we actually need to see, in order for us to change our position. There is a way back (for the Slovak authorities) to address and repair these issues".

With elections coming up in Hungary and in Denmark, we turn to the question online disinformation and election interference.

"I'm very pleased that the new European Centre for Democratic Resilience is now up and running and with the full support of the member states of the European Union," McGrath avers. "And its central purpose really is to act as a hub, as a point of coordination, to join together all of the good work that is happening within the (EU) institutions and also at the level of the member states. We know that there has been foreign interference in elections in Europe. We also know that with the power of technology and the extraordinary power of artificial intelligence, the ability to spread disinformation does present real challenges for our democracies."

Indeed, aren't existing EU tools falling behind those very rapid advances in AI and deepfakes?

"We need guardrails and regulatory parameters, and in particular on AI", McGrath replies. "And we need to keep this under review. If we need to do more, then we have to be willing to make such proposals. But we do have a very strong toolbox, including support for free and independent media, support for civil society and support for independent justice systems. All of these are essential foundations of a free, open and democratic society, and we need to continue to invest in them."

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Aline Bottin, Isabelle Romero, Perrine Desplats and Paul Guianvarc'h

On March 8, 2026, the world marks International Women's Day, to celebrate women's achievements and reinforce commitment to gender equality. In fact, this year denotes 115 years of collective action and advocacy.

On a global scale, Europe is actually very progressive. If one looks at the World Economic Forum's latest Gender Gap Index, European countries take eight spots out of the world's top 10.

In this show we explore areas that are still problematic in Europe when it comes to equality, particularly AI deepfakes and cyberbullying targeting women and girls – something that our guests are addressing at the 70th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

 

To learn more about the European Parliament's action in favour of women's rights, click here.

Programme prepared by Isabelle Romero, Perrine Desplats, Oihana Almandoz, Aline Bottin and Paul Guianvarc'h

 

European countries have some of the best public health systems in the world. And yet cancer rates have been going up, according to the European Commission. For instance, in 2022, there was a 2.3 percent increase on the year 2020.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer says it expects cases in Europe to keep increasing over the next two decades. That may be part of a global trend, but it still leads us to the question: why do Europeans account for around 25 percent of global cancer cases when they represent less than 10 percent of the world's population? Have Europeans become too comfortable in the way they live?

Find out more with the Intergroup on Cancer and Rare Diseases at the European Parliament.

Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Isabelle Romero, Oihana Almandoz and Agnès Le Cossec

 

As FRANCE 24 covers another grim milestone in Ukraine – four years of full-scale war – Talking Europe hosts the former president of the EU Council, Charles Michel, who was in the job when that geopolitical earthquake struck the European continent on February 24, 2022. We also bring you a special feature, “Ukraine: Europe on the front line”, about the EU’s wide-ranging support for Ukraine, by our reporter Mélina Huet.

Speaking of February 24, 2022, Charles Michel remembers, “The night when this full-scale invasion started, I had a phone call with Zelensky. He told me that there were (Russian) attacks everywhere. A few hours later, we had a meeting in Brussels with the 27 heads of state and government. And I managed to have Volodymyr Zelensky with us by video conference. It was a terrible moment because, in fact, we didn't need to talk to each other. Every leader around the table, we all had the same feelings. We all understood that this moment was a game changer for the future of the European continent. And we were also aware that it was extremely important to make bold decisions to support Ukraine.”

What does Charles Michel think of President Macron’s recent remark that it would be “useful” for him and the Europeans to start talking directly to President Putin again?

“That's a very good idea, because what is going on today is a real problem for the EU,” Michel answers.  “It's not normal that the European Union is not at the table. And if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. It means that no-one is defending our interest. We have observed that President Trump, very rapidly after his inauguration, made the choice to give legitimacy to Vladimir Putin and to launch those talks with Putin. We have to do more to be masters of our destiny. That's about security. That's about defence. That's about the decades to come. We must be at the table.”

We ask Charles Michel who should be put forward as an EU envoy in any potential direct talks with the Kremlin.

“There are various options, but I think that the most powerful option would be for the European Council to give a mandate, because it's the body with the highest legitimacy, with the 27 heads of state government,” Michel replies. “It could be a mandate to Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council, to be in the talks – with a strong mission; the defence of the European interest. You know, it’s very strange; we are powerful from the economic point of view. We are powerful from the military point of view. It’s very clear today that we are the most important supporter of Ukraine in terms of financial support, and in terms of military support. We must be more self-confident, I think.”

 

Programme prepared by Oihana Almandoz, Perrine Desplats and Isabelle Romero