Ep 131, presented by ERT: EU summit — Climate confusion — Gentiloni on geopolitics
This week's podcast comes from the EU summit in Brussels, where new European Council President Charles Michel claimed agreement on the Continent going climate-neutral by 2050 — but Poland has other ideas. POLITICO's climate reporter Paola Tamma, budget reporter Lili Bayer, chief Brussels correspondent David Herszenhorn and EU editor Andrew Gray break down the big issues behind the summit. They also look at the implications for the EU's ambitions to be the world's climate leader and for another pressing agenda item: the EU's budget. We hear from EU leaders including Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. We also speak with EU Ministers Helen McEntee of Ireland and Tytti Tuppurainen of Finland. Away from the summit, POLITICO's Matthew Karnitschnig talks to new European Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni about the importance of the Mediterranean region in a geopolitical Commission.