The French Dispatch

With Commission President Ursula von der Leyen having signed one of the worst trade deals I have ever seen, I sat down with Dave Keating from Gulf Stream Blues to dig into the EU’s latest “deal” with the US, and discussed why it’s absolutely not an FTA, no matter how it’s being spun.

We go over:

* What’s actually in the deal (spoiler: not much) and why calling it a “trade agreement” is misleading.

* How US and EU interpretations are already diverging – with clear lessons from the UK’s post-Brexit experience.

* Why the EU went along with it, what the real alternatives were, and the quiet but decisive role of Ursula von der Leyen (she could have led a resistance to this capitulation consensus … and didn’t).

* Which countries pushed for this surrender (hello, Germany and Italy), Bayrou’s sharp comments from France, and whether Paris or the European Parliament could still block it.

* And finally, the important question: does this deal permanently lock the EU into a position of subservience, or is there a way back?

* Did Ursula von der Leyen announce a geoeconomic and defence policy??

* What’s going on with the EU-US trade war?

* Will Von der Leyen ‘survive’ her confidence vote?

* Should we want her to survive it?

* What the hell happened to the Rassemblement National?

If these are the questions you were asking yourself, then you’re in the right place!

Today I sat down with friend of the publication, Dave Keating from Gulf Stream Bluesto discuss the big stories of the past few weeks, including:

* The on-off-on again US Tariff court rulings

* The European Council blocking Spanish regional languages and giving Pedro Sanchez a political headache

* Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orban's Budapest pride ban, and the pathetically weak response from the Commission

* And Ursula von der Leyen's Aachen speech on European geopolitics

On one of the most important days of the year, I sat down with friend of the publication, Dave Keating ( Gulf Stream Blues ), to discuss the big stories of the week, including:

* Friedrich Merz’ two-round Bundeskanzler voting scandal, and who was to blame

* How his relationship with Emmanuel Macron is looking

* What is happening with the Weimar Triangle

* What’s the story with the new pope? And was his election politicised?

* And how can Europe tease academics and scientists to the European Union?

* Can “The French” finally lead Europe’s re-armament?

* Are “The French” doing victory laps?

* Will “The Europeans” be able to do without “The Americans” when it comes to security?

* Are “The French” “Arrogant”?

I had the great pleasure to sit with Dave Keating from Gulf Stream Blues today for a fun discussion regarding the new paradigm of European security, the impact of Donald Trump’s Presidency on European independence, and the level of influence the French are exerting right now as Europe does some serious soul-searching.

With the results of the 2024 Legislative Elections having come in last night, and with a dispatch in the works to show you what happened, I met up with the incredible Latika Bourke and Tristan de Bourbon Parme to discuss what happened

In this quick and dirty podcast that we put together today, we talk about what happened last night, what political tactics worked and didn’t work, what the key bits of news from the election were, and where this could take us!

I had the great pleasure to be invited by Tim Sennett and Jennie to come and join them on the Mriya Report, a brilliant network that covers Ukrainian politics and how global events impact our future fellow member state.

In a brilliant exchange with the audience, who had a lot of very interesting questions, we delved into :

* 🇫🇷The French parliamentary election* 🇬🇧British parliamentary election* 🇪🇺EU politics* 🇭🇺The Hungarian Presidency of the Council* 🇺🇸The ongoing state of US politics* 🇺🇦And how all of this can, is, and will potentially impact Ukraine

With the first round of the 2024 Legislative Elections taking place today across France, I wanted to share with you all a great podcast that I did with the incredible Latike Bourke and Tristan de Bourbon Parme.

In it, we have discussed what led us to our current situation, covering everything from the popularity of Emmanuel Macron, what exactly has pushed so much support to the RN, why people will likely vote the way they will, and how this could affect France in the future.

So, did you catch the #SOTEU? What did you think? How do you feel about the direction of the EU? and did it even matter?

Last week I sat down with my friend Simon van Hoeve who runs a fascinating podcast called The Brubble to talk about the State of the European Union Speech given by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, breaking down why this was a historic speech and a good sign of things to come.

If you enjoyed this episode, please support Simon’s podcast! He’s a great guy, he’s doing some fun stuff, and we’re even considering working on a few fun projects together in the coming weeks.

Here’s a link to his podcast on Spotify:

and here’s a link to his show on Apple Podcasts:

He’s also always looking for contributors, so if you want to get in touch with him, you can contact him through [email protected] or through his twitter account.

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