Today in the EU

For the first time in 60 years, France started the year without a budget bill after December’s vote triggered the collapse of Prime Minister Barnier’s three-month-old government. But this week, new PM Michel Bayrou managed to push through the budget – avoid the New Popular Front alliance's no-confidence vote and secure his own job in the process.  

Now, the opposition is pointing finger at one party in particular: the Socialists, who broke away from the NFP and decided not to rally behind the group’s vote. The party divisions in the NFP could mark the end of the alliance, and leave France’s left in limbo.  

Could the socialists deal the final blow to NFP?  

In this episode, host Giada Santana and Paris-based politics reporter Theo Bourgery-Gonse make sense of the french left's fragmentation and PM Bayrou's latest moves. 

After Canada, Mexico, and China, the EU could be next to face the threat of tariffs as Donald Trump’s latest remarks suggest levies on European goods may be imminent. Is Brussels prepared to retaliate? And how might the bloc get entangled in a global trade war?

In this episode, host Giada Santana and economy reporter Thomas Moller-Nielsen break down Trump’s strategy—and what it could mean for the EU.

The new Chinese AI model DeepSeek R1 is making waves worldwide as the start up behind it says it runs at a fraction of the cost of all existing models on the market.

That seems impressive. Or sort of.

In the EU, at least eleven member states have promptly reacted to the launch, demanding the platform clarification on its privacy policy. Brussels' investigation, on the other hand, has yet to reach conclusions.

What rules could the Chinese startup be in violation of? Where does the data go?

In this episode, host Giada Santana and tech reporter Claudie Moreau ask DeepSeek some of these questions directly and analyse what measures Brussels can implement to protect users.

Concerns over the EU’s trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay have stalled negotiations for two decades. Now, the agreement is signed – but its opposition is far from sealed.

Farmers worry it means unfair competition and fear cheaper, less-regulated imports could threaten their livelihoods.

Economy Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen stepped in last week to ease tensions over Mercosur’s impact. Was it enough? And how is the Commission handling the pushback?

In this episode, host Giada Santana and agrifood reporter Maria Simon Arboleas analyse the fragmentation around the Mercosur agreement and the Commission's plan to move forward.

Less than a month before the publication of the Clean Industrial Deal, executive commissioner Teresa Ribera speaks to host Giada Santana and EET editor Donagh Cagney about competitiveness, environmental NGOs lobbying and the hostile political climate standing in her way.

Not many could have guessed that the 2024 railway accident in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-largest city, would spark some of the largest protests in the country’s post-Soviet history, ultimately leading to Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's resignation.

While demonstrators are demanding accountability for the 15 lives lost in the railway ceiling collapse, they also want greater transparency and the rule of law enforcement. But Serbia’s political landscape offers little in the way of real opposition to President Aleksandar Vučić.

How did the country reach this breaking point? And what comes next?

In this episode, producer Charles Cohen speaks with Engjellushe Morina, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, to unpack the roots of Serbia’s mass protests and what lies ahead.

European Commission's President von der Leyen unveils today her 'North Star' of economic strategy: the Competitiveness Compass. Beyond the motto of simplifying and unifying, the document has drawn praise from businesses and raised alarms among unions. What impact will it have on the Union's economic future?

In this episode, host Giada Santana talks to Euractiv's economy reporter, Thomas Moller-Nielsen, to unpack the Compass' key takeaways.

By becoming the moderate face of the AfD, Alice Weidel helped transform the party from a fringe movement into a dominant force, forcing its rivals to rethink their electoral strategy. However, Weidel's private life reveals contradictions some argue clash with the traditional values of the far-right movement.

She has lived abroad, is openly in a same-sex relationship, and splits her time between Germany and Switzerland. But rather than hindering her rise, these complexities have fuelled Weidel's climb to power, positioning the 46-year-old as a contender for the chancellorship.

In this episode, host Giada Santana is joined by Berlin-based politics reporter Nick Alipour to examine the AfD's transformation under Weidel’s leadership.

The European Union approved its first-ever crisis response unit, a 5,000-strong force designed to address threats outside its borders. However, as EU foreign ministers convene today to once again deliberate on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, one thing seems clear: the newly minted crisis unit doesn't look set to be heading to Kyiv – or anywhere else – in the immediate future.

Why is the EU keeping its crisis response corps on standby during one of the most significant security challenges in its modern history? And if Ukraine is off the table, what types of crises or regions might eventually trigger their first mission?

Greenland has come into the limelight after Donald Trump suggested buying the island in late December. The controversy reignited a wish for independence in the world's largest island, and thrown the government in Copenhagen into a political quagmire. 

In this episode, host Giada Santana speaks with politics reporter Magnus Lund Nielsen, who has been covering the latest developments in Greenland on the ground for the past two weeks.