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135 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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The Assault on NGOs
15 april 2023 · 56 min
Conveniently at the heart of the EU Qatargate corruption scandal is a rogue NGO. Conveniently, that is, for EU officials and lawmakers who dislike non-governmental organisations. NGOs frequently end up in an awkward relationship with states and international organisations, says Thomas Davies at City University, and that awkwardness increasingly seems to include the EU too. The trigger for the current tensions is an NGO ("Fight Impunity") that allegedly worked with Morocco and Qatar to channel cash to socialist members of the European Parliament. Conservatives, ultraliberals and the far right now are calling for NGOs to pass a kind of EU loyalty test and to classify some NGOs as foreign agents. Carlotta Besozzi, the head of Civil Society Europe, is among those who detect an increasingly hostile environment for NGOs. Among organisations under assault is Femyso, the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organizations. EU support for Femyso irks MEPs who dislike its fight against Islamophobia and who suggest it has links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Femyso says such allegations are false and malicious and designed to undermine an organisation with no ties to political parties or political movements. Femyso's former president Youssef Himmat was smeared in similar ways by the United Arab Emirates — and his story now forms part of a must-read article in a recent edition of The New Yorker. With thanks to the Open Society Foundations for partnering with EU Scream on this episode. Lees meer
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Corruption in the Family
15 februari 2023 · 1 uur 3 min
Families can go wrong. And unless you've been under a rock these last weeks, you'll know that a number of members of the Socialist family at the European Parliament went very wrong. They allegedly took sack loads of Qatari cash on top of their already generous salaries and benefits in return, it seems, for trying to block their own Socialist colleagues from criticising Qatar's record on human rights. In this episode, Lara Wolters, a Socialist member, gives a first-hand account of being obstructed and misled by two of the prime suspects in the scandal. She also shares her feelings of vindication now that the truth is coming out. Yet Lara shows compassion for Eva Kaili, a young mother like herself, who has been implicated in the so-called Qatargate scandal and separated from her daughter. Also in this episode, a lawmaker from outside the Socialist family: co-president of the Left group Manon Aubry. Manon was convinced she saw the heavy hand of Qatar on lawmakers weeks before news about the scandal broke. So she blew the whistle on social media, where her video on the topic has racked up nearly 70,000 views. Manon, who has emerged as one of the firmest advocates for an EU ethics overhaul, reserves some of her most acid criticism for the conservative EPP group, which she says perpetuated a culture of opacity that has helped breed corruption. Lees meer
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Mars Returns
29 januari 2023 · 39 min
Putin's barbarism is somehow felt by us all even though it can be hard to get to grips with the magnitude of what's at stake. One reason may be what writer and academic Tom Nichols calls normalcy bias, an inherent resistance to accepting that large changes can upend our lives. Another may be what Lithuanian arts curator Raimundas Malasauskas calls unlearned lessons from history about Russia's imperialist and colonialist drives. Political scientist David Rowe is a Fulbright NATO Security Studies scholar and a visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and he has been looking into why so much of Europe wasn't ready for Putin. David, who's on sabbatical from Kenyon College in the US, gives his personal views about how the EU needs to rethink the role of war and peace in building and maintaining liberal democracy. Among points he addresses in this podcast are the consequences for the Western allies of not spilling their own blood in Ukraine, and the resentment Ukrainians will surely feel if the door to the EU club isn't really open after all. David starts with a description of the philosophical roots — laid some two centuries ago — of the EU's approach to international politics. It's an approach that's helped much of Europe keep the peace over recent decades. But it may also have left Europe flat-footed in the face of abhorrent aggression. "The problem," says David, "is that peace seems so evidently good, that it is very easy to overlook the deep structures that give rise to it." Lees meer
Poem 11/22 by Ariana Reines.
Video from Mars Returns in Kaunas.Support the show
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Ethics After Qatargate
16 december 2022 · 30 min
The European Parliament is reeling from corruption allegations involving the Gulf state of Qatar. Members' offices have been sealed. Raids have been carried out by Italian and Belgian authorities. And large sums of cash seized including sacks of banknotes from the father of one of the lawmakers at the centre of the scandal. That lawmaker, Eva Kaili, was with the Greek socialist Pasok party. She was a vice president of the European Parliament — and she'd been strongly promoting Qatar. Kaili has now been stripped of her title and is in custody. Of course it's far from the first corruption scandal in the EU. But in this case there's the promise of further lurid revelations of cash-fuelled influence peddling on a much bigger scale than previously thought. And now the race is on to apportion blame. Some lawmakers suggest malign foreign interference is mainly responsible. Others say non-governmental organisations and campaign groups should be in the crosshairs. Still others stress that there will always be bad apples and so there should be no need for collective guilt in a Parliament with 705 members. But such finger-pointing mostly amounts to denial and deflection. That's because the dumpster fire at the European Parliament may be largely of the EU's own making. Foreign governments still can meet lawmakers largely undetected, and there's still no central independent investigator and no system for anonymous whistle-blowers. It's what Transparency International calls a complete lack of independent ethics oversight. And while the EU has many gifted politicians and policymakers who are above reproach — still too many are low grade national party hacks and worse. One of the leading voices on making the E.U. more accountable and transparent is Alberto Alemanno. Alberto is Jean Monnet Professor in European Union Law at HEC Paris, and he sits on the board of several civil society organisations. He's also a good sport for taking a scooter through downtown Brussels, in the dark, … Lees meer
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Bad Karma
3 december 2022 · 47 min
The European Union wants India as a strategic ally. And India loves the positive attention it's getting from Europe. Both sides are trying to speed up a long stalled-trade agreement amid steadily tightening relations. But that only serves to magnify a glaring double standard in EU foreign policy. While the EU openly criticises China for abusing its the mostly Muslim Uyghur population, the EU turns a blind eye to the way India treats its own Muslim minority. The problems run deeper still. India's prime minister Narendra Modi has his roots in a fascist Hindu movement. And like Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Modi is associated with a rise in the kind of right-wing national populism that the EU supposedly deplores. So while the EU still describes India as the world's largest democracy, a looming question is how much longer that will continue to be the case. Journalist Rana Ayyub has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of Modi. She went undercover to investigate the extent of official complicity in mass killings of Muslims in Gujarat when Modi was the state's chief minister. Rana has been profiled in Time magazine and the New Yorker, and she's now a columnist for The Washington Post. She says any rapprochement with India mustn't come at the expense of the truth about Modi's authoritarian instincts and links to brutality against minorities. Also in this episode: Dutch member of the European Parliament Agnes Jongerius on her priorities for trade talks with India. Agnes represents the Socialists & Democrats group within the influential trade committee. Lees meer
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The Decolonisers
26 oktober 2022 · 29 min
Decolonisation is a new way of confronting racism. It means rooting out colonial-era attitudes of white superiority that linger in our societies and institutions. The push for decolonisation in the US and parts of Europe took wings with the Black Lives Matter movement. But the EU still is nowhere near starting the process of decolonisation. Its reticence was underlined this month when top EU diplomat Josep Borrell branded most of the world a jungle and then got away with making only a grudging apology. In this episode: a look back at Borrell's offensive comments at the College of Europe; and a look ahead at how to decolonise EU foreign aid, with Shada Islam and Dylan Mathews of Peace Direct. Lees meer
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How Europe Helped Normalise Giorgia Meloni
22 september 2022 · 32 min
Georgia Meloni was 19 and speaking to French TV when she praised Italian dictator and Hitler ally Mussolini. Back then the likely next prime minister of Italy was dressed all in black and flanked by burly men. Twenty-six years later things look very different. Meloni favours bright white pant suits and presses the flesh with European dignitaries. The normalisation of the neofascist far right in Italy seems complete. Part of the answer as to how this happened lies with an international political party, the European Conservatives and Reformists or ECR. Meloni is the president of the ECR party which has significant representation in the European Parliament — and branding that's disarmingly centrist. In fact the ECR is led by representatives of ultraconservative and radical right parties from Poland and Spain and by Meloni's own party: the Fratelli d'Italia or Brothers of Italy. Other key allies include Trumpist US Republicans. So should Meloni still be considered neofascist? She insists she's a patriotic conservative. And indeed, if she's prime minister, she's expected to respect Italy's democracy — if only to keep money flowing from the EU. She's also vowed to keep up support for Ukraine and NATO. Yet Meloni has shown scant if any remorse for her past. She congratulated Vladimir Putin for an "unequivocal" election victory in 2018. And only last year she was lauding Russia's defence of European values. And so, questions remain about how much Meloni has really moderated. Valerio Alfonso Bruno is a senior fellow at the UK-based Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right who is writing a book on the Brothers of Italy. Valerio says there could be troubling times ahead — and not just for Italy. Meloni and her international allies still want a Europe that deprives LGBT+ people of civil rights; that tells women what they can and can't do with their bodies; and that falls into line with racist conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement. With Meloni, it's not like we haven't… Lees meer
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Model Minority Myths
14 augustus 2022 · 34 min
There are many things to love about France. But a stated policy of colour blindness is not one of them. Among those leading the charge against a French conception of universalism that makes discussing race so awkward is Grace Ly. Her Chinese Cambodian parents fled the Khmer Rouge during the late 1970s for France, where she has found success and celebrity with books like Jeune fille modèle and the podcast Kiffe Ta Race that she co-hosts with Rokhaya Diallo. The French still preach that everyone is equal in the eyes of the Republic, but Grace says the reality is very different. She cites a notorious incident where a former French interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, was caught saying in reference to immigrants of North African descent that, "when there is one it's OK,” but that, "when there are lots of them that there are problems." Grace is from an Asian European community that's often portrayed as a model minority. But she says that's a corrosive stereotype, and she too has to navigate double standards. "When I walk out in the streets, people see me, they actually see me very well because they still say ni hao to me, so they do see me. But it's what they want me to be. They want me to be invisible." Grace is in conversation with journalist and think tanker Shada Islam and commentator Helena Malikova. Lees meer
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Bianca's Story Revisited
31 juli 2022 · 24 min
Europeans howl about U.S. backsliding on abortion rights but they don't exactly have their own house in order. Take the case of Bianca. She's a Romanian. She was studying medicine in Germany. And she discovered she was pregnant in Korea. Bianca eventually made her way home to Romania to terminate the pregnancy. But the doctor at her regional hospital was obstructive and barely paid attention to the medical code. Bianca was, to all intents and purposes, left to fend for herself. Lees meer
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The Curious Case of the Racial Muslim
16 juli 2022 · 29 min
Legal scholar Sahar Aziz says people who identify as Muslim are often perceived in racial terms, like black and brown people, in white-dominated societies. That makes Muslims on both sides of the Atlantic the subject of similar forms of racism. She also says protecting observant Muslims in Europe may be more difficult than in the United States, where religious observance is more commonplace. In this episode: Sahar Aziz in conversation with the journalist and think tanker Shada Islam. Lees meer
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Bonjour, Vladimir
7 juli 2022 · 31 min
Was Emmanuel Macron right to talk so much with Vladimir Putin before and after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine? And did Macron cross a line from well-intentioned engagement into something like naive appeasement? French journalist Guy Lagache spent the first six months of this year in close proximity to Macron, making a film that ended up focusing on the French president's Putin strategy. Lees meer
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Against White Feminism: Europe Edition
29 mei 2022 · 29 min
Author Rafia Zakaria turned the feminist world upside down with her bestselling book Against White Feminism. White feminists, she writes, fail "to cede space to the feminists of colour who have been ignored erased or excluded from the feminist movement." In this episode Rafia talks with the Brussels-based journalist and think-tanker Shada Islam about the prevalence of white feminist thinking in Europe — and in France in particular. Lees meer
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Ultraconservatives in Putin's Shadow
19 mei 2022 · 16 min
Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has threatened to be a public relations disaster for hard-right gatherings like CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference. Previous editions featured Putin supporters — and a CPAC meeting getting underway in Budapest will feature Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who remains on highly cordial terms with the Kremlin. So what playbook can participants at CPAC — which is being held for the first time in Europe — use to put a cordon sanitaire between them and Putin? A similar conference of National Conservatives, who met in Brussels in March, offers clues. Lees meer
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To Kyiv and Back
15 mei 2022 · 46 min
Would you pick up a gun and fight for Ukraine? The injustice of the Russian invasion has led white-collar professionals like Florent and Tomas to trade suits and ties for camouflage and Kalashnikovs. Florent, who is French, and Tomas, a Lithuanian, met for the first time in February at the Ukrainian embassy in Belgium. They teamed up for the trip to Ukraine and they're now back in Brussels to tell their story. Lees meer
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In the Line of Fire
16 maart 2022 · 19 min
When Thomas left Brussels for Ukraine to train as a foreign fighter, he joined up with the Georgian Legion, a paramilitary group that's fought for years to stop Russian aggression. In this episode Thomas and his unit arrive in Kyiv, as part of efforts to try to stop Putin's army from taking the capital. Please note: this is a reedited version of the episode Foreign Fighter Diaries — Part 2. Lees meer
Listen to Part 1.
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Foreign Fighter Diaries
7 maart 2022 · 18 min
Thomas lives in Brussels. But last week, seemingly out of the blue, he upped sticks and left. He was already heading into Ukraine when he began sending his first dispatches — simple but captivating voicemails. Thomas is now in the international brigades, which are comprised of foreign fighters from all over the world. Like Thomas, many of the fighters were responding to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's call to help his country in its hour of need. And, like Thomas, they now are patrolling Ukrainian streets against Russian incursions, on Europe's new frontline. Lees meer
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Eurafrique
15 februari 2022 · 37 min
Policy differences between Europe and Africa have been widening, and while there may be warm words about a new partnership when the leaders of the EU and African Union meet in Brussels, there are unlikely to be breakthroughs on key African demands. One area where Europeans and Africans have long seen eye-to-eye is fighting jihadists, and Europe has not hesitated to ally with African autocrats who promise a measure of stability. Could Françafrique — the French sphere of influence that outlived the end of French colonialism — still be revived on a European scale, as Eurafrique? Lees meer
Nick Westcott is the director of the Royal African Society in London and he was the first managing director for Africa at the EU's European External Action Service. Faten Aggad is a senior advisor at the African Climate Foundation and she was formerly a senior advisor for negotiations with the EU with the African Union High Representative in Addis Ababa. Elissa Jobson is director for global advocacy at the International Crisis Group and she was previously the group’s main liaison with the African Union. The Open Society European Policy Institute partnered with EU Scream in making this episode.
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European Shibboleths
25 januari 2022 · 37 min
Europe is green. Europe is humane. Europe has defeated populism. These views are common among the EU chattering classes. But they often seem more reflexive than reflective, and some of them amount to shibboleths — beliefs that are outmoded or no longer as useful as they once may have been. In this episode Mehreen Khan of the Financial Times unpacks the European shibboleths that rank among her favourites. Past episodes with Mehreen feature her commentary on race and strategic autonomy; her clairvoyant take on French President Emmanuel Macron's ugly side; and her own brush with his policies on Islam. Lees meer
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Transparency, Interrupted
30 december 2021 · 35 min
Freedom of information. Openness. Access to documents. These are names for laws people can use to ask authorities to share information and records. The European Union adopted its access regulation at the turn of this century. But as work went digital, the access rules have failed to keep pace. A lot still goes unrecorded. Or it goes unregistered, and can't be accessed easily, if at all. "There are very important pieces of information that are not coming out," says European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly. The EU access regulation was part of efforts to build public trust. But lax enforcement may be exacerbating the very narrative the EU is seeking to overcome — that it's an elitist and unaccountable political project. Also in this episode: tax expert Martijne Nouwen on the mass deletion of European Commission emails; and journalist Alexander Fanta on messages about vaccine contracts on Ursula von der Leyen's phone. Lees meer
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Quick Take: Enrico Letta
1 december 2021 · 18 min
Enrico Letta was prime minister of Italy for less than a year before he was ousted by a rival, Matteo Renzi. But a lot happened during Letta's time at the top. After six years in Paris, he's back in Italy and leading the centre-left Democratic Party with a conspicuously progressive agenda on issues like gender equality and LGBT+ rights. Speaking at the Global Progressive Forum, Letta describes the victim-shaming of Italy and Spain during the financial crisis — and he explains how a big bag of money from Brussels called NextGenerationEU may be helping heal the wounds. Letta also calls on the EU to make joint budget support permanent, and he suggests excluding Poland and Hungary from shared European migration and asylum policy to break the deadlock on the issue. Lees meer
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Book Club: The Scent of Wild Animals
5 november 2021 · 39 min
Liberal lawmaker Sophie in 't Veld says the European Union's survival depends on overcoming creeping sclerosis, ending acquiescence to autocrats, and embracing the kind of political spectacle that captures the public imagination. In her new book, The Scent of Wild Animals, Sophie writes that too much EU politics takes place behind closed doors, with no sensory experience for citizens. Her remedies include recasting the European Parliament's deference to the European Council and emboldening the Parliament to dismiss the European Commission when it fails to enforce EU law. "I see my colleagues looking at me as if I'm Che Guevara, you know, some very dangerous revolutionary or something," says Sophie, a four-term member of the European Parliament from the Dutch D66 party who recently withdrew from the race to lead Renew Europe. "But I wonder why?" Lees meer
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The Climate Allies Europe Needs
25 oktober 2021 · 20 min
With the next big climate conference about to get underway in Glasgow, major breakthroughs look elusive. Among the spectres at the feast are raging geopolitical tensions, high energy prices, the ongoing pandemic and — in the wake of Brexit — a lack of diplomatic vigour from Europe. Nick Mabey is a founding director of the non-profit environmental group E3G who helped create Britain's first environmental diplomacy network. Nick urges Europeans to do much more to leverage progress on climate protection by stepping up alliances with countries most vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Lees meer
Listen to an interview with Connie Hedegaard in part one of this two-part series on Europe and the climate.
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Hedegaard on the Hazards of Stalling Climate Action
21 oktober 2021 · 21 min
Concerns are growing that the big climate conference in Glasgow next month will not do enough to avert climate breakdown. Obstacles to progress include international tensions between the US and China, and between the UK and Europe. Someone who knows first hand how hard it can be to make climate negotiations succeed in such conditions is Connie Hedegaard. In 2009 Connie presided over the Copenhagen climate conference that ended in rancour — and left Europe on the sidelines. Connie went on to become the first European commissioner for climate action at the European Commission where she used her role to help put global climate talks back on track. Among Connie's most urgent messages to policymakers ahead of Glasgow is to resist the temptation to derail the incipient green transition in response to skyrocketing energy prices. She warns that delays risk stoking further disenchantment with democracy — and could usher in a new era of radicalisation in Europe. Lees meer
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Book Club: The Last Bluff
23 september 2021 · 30 min
During the first few months of 2015 the world watched in awe — and often admiration — as a scrappy government in Athens tried to stare down Europe's financial and political establishment. The standoff failed spectacularly. Greece ended up with more loans on even tougher terms. In their bestselling book The Last Bluff, co-authors Viktoria Dendrinou and Eleni Varvitsioti judge the Greek government's strategy as doomed from the outset. But they also spotlight conflicts among Greece's creditors that inflicted undue suffering on ordinary citizens. In this first EU Scream Book Club, Eleni describes some of the characters her book brings to life, and its most memorable scenes, including the tragicomic denouement featuring François Hollande. Lees meer
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A Hunger Strike at the Heart of Europe
1 september 2021 · 49 min
This summer some 450 undocumented workers and migrants in Brussels refused food during two months. They were protesting Belgian immigration rules that human rights officials and campaigners like Lilana Keith of PICUM say arbitrarily obstruct them from legal and stable residency. The hunger strike provoked an outcry against the Belgian government. Yet there was no intervention from the European Union even though its headquarters is just 10 minutes away from the 17th century church that became the rallying point for supporters of the strikers. Albert Kraler, an assistant professor at Danube University Krems, says the EU has long been studiously silent about residency rights for the kinds of undocumented workers and migrants who led the Brussels protest. That's especially the case when regional upheavals like in Afghanistan could mean more irregular arrivals in Europe. Lees meer
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Visit EU Scream for more episodes.
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Eurocrats Who Look Like Europe
30 juni 2021 · 39 min
There is a double standard at the heart of the European Union’s powerful executive body, the European Commission. Women — mostly white women — benefit from affirmative action when applying for jobs. But people of colour seeking advancement do not benefit from special consideration. Commentator and columnist Shada Islam says the Commission’s progress on gender makes its foot-dragging on racial diversity less excusable than ever. Sarah Chander, a digital rights advocate and a co-founder of the Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice, discusses the moral panic over critical race theory that's spread to Europe. Lees meer
This episode was made in partnership with The Brussels Binder under the BBBeyond project.
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Visit EU Scream for more episodes.
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First Aid for Polish Democracy
14 mei 2021 · 43 min
Parallels with the Soviet era are increasingly evident in Poland where the ruling coalition hounds judges and captures courts. Adam Bodnar, the country's human rights commissioner, lambasts European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a "lack of leadership” amid an antidemocratic onslaught that's also damaged media pluralism. Laurent Pech, the head of the Law and Politics Department at Middlesex University London, urges Brussels to do much more to stop modern-day autocrats from creating a climate of self-censorship that entrenches their power. By fully embracing the legal concept of “chilling effect," Brussels can help judges, activists and journalists in countries like Poland to resist autocracy, says Natacha Kazatchkine of the Open Society European Policy Institute, which partnered with EU Scream in making this episode. Lees meer
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit EU Scream for more episodes.
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Why She Won't Go
7 april 2021 · 38 min
Ursula von der Leyen appears secure in her job as president of the European Commission. That's despite a troubled vaccine rollout in which delayed deliveries can cost lives and livelihoods. But preserving the status quo in Brussels comes at a cost. Mehreen Khan of the Financial Times unpacks why the European institutions are not much interested in asking what's gone wrong — let alone in taking the scalp of Mrs. von der Leyen. Hans Kundnani of Chatham House warns that unaddressed vaccine mishaps in Brussels — and simmering tensions over how to disburse pandemic relief funds — are storing up new troubles for the European project. Lees meer
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and more EU Scream.
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Keeping the Red Flag Flying
18 maart 2021 · 35 min
The hard left is often associated with the colours red for revolution and black for anarcho-syndicalism. But the movement is more and more green these days too. The trend is exemplified in many ways by Manon Aubry of the political party La France Insoumise. Since 2019 she has been a co-leader of the Left in the European Parliament where she is the youngest person to head one of the chamber's political groups. Manon says a green-tinted approach to social and economic justice combined with unabashed antifascism can help to rebrand her fractious group of leftists and communists — and win voters back from the far right. Lees meer
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and more EU Scream.
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Taking Brexit Personally
16 februari 2021 · 31 min
James Crisp has Boris Johnson's old job in Brussels covering EU affairs for The Daily Telegraph. James often writes with that jaundiced eye on the European project you'd expect from a correspondent on a venerable Conservative UK newspaper. But James continues to command respect for sharp and informed questioning of EU authorities. This episode starts with James recalling a family trip to Mini-Europe, a theme park featuring scale models of landmarks and heritage sites from each EU member state. Mini-Europe's founder Thierry Meeùs has cordoned off the British exhibits — in deference to Brexit of course. Lees meer
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and more EU Scream.
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When Conservatives Endanger Democracy
2 februari 2021 · 40 min
Political scientist Daniel Ziblatt is best known for co-authoring the 2018 bestseller How Democracies Die. The book is an indictment of US Republicans and their failure to resist Donald Trump. Daniel's work also examines how conservative parties have largely determined whether democracy thrived, as in Britain, or died, as in Weimar Germany. In this episode he discusses dilemmas facing Europe's modern-day conservative parties, including the German Christian Democratic Union and the European People's Party. Lees meer
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and more EU Scream.
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Citizen Deliberation in Light of an Insurrection
11 januari 2021 · 31 min
Can the European Union do more to hold back the kinds of malign forces that overran the US Capitol claiming to defend democracy? It's not an idle question. Democratic shortcomings in the European Union are regularly invoked by the far right to whip up nationalist sentiment. The effect has been to weaponise the European project against itself. Rather than a citizens' insurrection, what's foreseen in the EU is a period of deep and prolonged citizens' reflection. The Conference on the Future of Europe is a once-in-a-political-generation opportunity to make the EU more accountable, responsive and democratic. But ensuring the conference delivers results is an immense challenge. Professor Alberto Alemanno of HEC Paris is a leading voice on democratisation, and he takes up those issues and more. Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield is a Green member of the European Parliament from France who coordinates on rule of law in Hungary. She's also on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs that's been pushing to get the Conference underway. She's now concerned the conference may not happen at all. Lees meer
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Honesty Is the Best Policy
13 december 2020 · 29 min
Politicians mostly talk about shutting migrants out. That endangers migrants' lives and obscures an important truth: that Europe already relies on large numbers of migrants for farming and manufacturing. The reliance includes significant numbers of irregular migrants and refugees. But getting honest about this phenomenon has long been taboo for Europe's political class. Giulia Laganà of the Open Society European Policy Institute unpacks the issues against the backdrop of the EU's New Pact on Migration and Asylum. Giulia also addresses how improving labor conditions for migrants can help avoid the toxic discourse on migration and borders promoted by the far right. Lees meer
This episode of EU Scream is sponsored by Google. The pandemic has hit European small and medium sized businesses hard. That's why Google is offering free tools and training to help businesses in Europe grow. For more information go to g.co/growwithgoogle
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and more EU Scream.
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Showdowns Over the Rule of Law
2 december 2020 · 40 min
Brussels is increasingly expected to serve as the European Union's sheriff on rule of law. But its ability to enforce adherence to democratic norms and values remains weak. Mehreen Khan of the Financial Times talks about the EU's latest showdown with Poland and Hungary. She also discusses illiberal trends in France and her own brush with the country's newly restrictive climate for free expression. Politics expert Garvan Walshe talks about his latest pro-democracy project, a news site called article7.eu that's dedicated to tracking rule of law issues in Europe. Lees meer
This episode of EU Scream is sponsored by Google. The pandemic has hit European small and medium sized businesses hard. That's why Google is offering free tools and training to help businesses in Europe grow. For more information go to g.co/growwithgoogle
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and more EU Scream.
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Europe on a Power Trip
9 november 2020 · 38 min
Strategic autonomy has become the mantra for European Union officials. It started as a broadly French idea: that Europe needs sufficient military power to promote peace and security independent of the US. The idea has evolved to include power in trade and technology to enable Europe to avoid getting squeezed by China and America. Now with Joe Biden as US president-elect, the concept is again up for debate. Lees meer
Nathalie Tocci wrote the European Global Strategy that gave the concept of strategic autonomy its prominence. She says strategic autonomy should remain a guiding principle for Europe, even after Donald Trump leaves the White House. Another challenge for strategic autonomy comes from EU member states with liberal economic and internationalist outlooks. Financial Times Brussels reporter Mehreen Khan talks about the implications of strategic autonomy for Europe's free traders, the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, and the durability of Europe's soft power credentials.
This episode of EU Scream is sponsored by Google. The pandemic has hit European small and medium sized businesses hard. That's why Google is offering free tools and training to help businesses in Europe grow. For more information go to g.co/growwithgoogle
Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream.
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Apostles of Intersectionality Challenge Europe
23 oktober 2020 · 40 min
Intersectionality is the concept that overlapping identities — disability, gender, race and sexual orientation for example — create forms of discrimination that can go unaddressed. But many European Union leaders are wary of the kind of identity politics that intersectionality implies. That resistance may be stiffening now that France is promoting traditional republican identities for its citizens so zealously. Emilia Roig is the founder and executive director of the Berlin-based Center for Intersectional Justice. Emilia discusses the transatlantic dimensions of intersectionality and outlines ways how Europe can apply the concept to enhance racial justice and equality. Katrin Langensiepen is a Green member of the European Parliament from Germany and the first female member to have a visible disability. Katrin sees intersectionality and inclusion as the latest stages in advances for civil rights made since the 1960s. Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
This episode of EU Scream is sponsored by Google. The pandemic has hit European small and medium sized businesses hard. That's why Google is offering free tools and training to help businesses in Europe grow. For more information go to g.co/growwithgoogle
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Online Violence: Stories from Bulgaria and Spain
11 oktober 2020 · 49 min
Bigots and far-right extremists are using online violence to try to silence feminists and LGBT people. It's a cowardly tactic since perpetrators don’t have to meet their targets. We hear stories from two Europeans on the receiving end: Irantzu Varela, a prominent feminist in Spain and host of the popular YouTube show El Tornillo; and Simeon Vasilev, the co-founder and chief executive of the GLAS Foundation, an organization promoting the acceptance of Gays and Lesbians in Bulgarian society. The scale of the problem is putting pressure on the EU to force platforms like Facebook and Twitter to do more to protect users. We get analysis from Asha Allen, a policy & campaigns officer at the European Women’s Lobby, and from Guillermo Beltrà, EU Digital Policy Lead at the Open Society European Policy Institute, which partnered with EU Scream in making this episode. Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Ylva Johansson on Migration and Its Drama Queens
17 september 2020 · 32 min
Ylva Johansson is done with drama queen discussions that portray migrants and refugees as an existential threat to Europe. Johansson is the European Commissioner for home affairs and she’d like to make migration a more normal issue. She’d also like to win the approval of all EU member states for a new proposal for a common asylum and migration policy — something her predecessors failed to do. But the real test for Johansson may be a personal one: how to hold fast to her deeply felt commitment to multiculturalism amid intense pressure to do even more to seal Europe’s external borders from newcomers. Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Race and the von der Leyen Commission
24 juli 2020 · 37 min
The European Union has embarked on a push against racism amid protests following the killing of George Floyd. But important questions remain about whether some EU leaders and policies, and the bloc’s broadly federalist priorities, are the best choices for achieving that goal. Mehreen Khan, EU correspondent for the Financial Times, assesses the anti-racism credentials of the European Commission under the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Data & Dystopia
16 juni 2020 · 32 min
Computing known as artificial intelligence sorts vast amounts of data — faces, our web browsing habits, even our gestures — into automated predictions used by companies and governments. The technology holds great promise for applications like diagnosing disease and preventing catastrophes. Yet it can exacerbate discrimination and inequality, and be used to erode democracy. Despite concerns about human rights and civil liberties, and about the activities of companies like Clearview AI and Palantir Technologies, European Union authorities are shaping a 21st-century industrial policy around artificial intelligence. That includes opening access to vast amounts of data — data from both the private and the public sectors — in the name of innovation and entrepreneurship. Critics warn that Europe could find itself in an untenable position, caught between upholding privacy ethics that have helped burnish its global reputation, and seeking to boost its competitiveness and security by promoting intrusive industries. We speak with four experts and legislators about how to keep A.I. safe for citizens: Samira Rafaela, a Dutch member of the European Parliament; Joanna Bryson, professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School in Berlin; Sarah Chander, senior policy adviser for the European Digital Rights Association, EDRi; and Patrick Breyer, a member of the European Parliament who represents the German Pirates in alliance with the Greens. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Standing Up to Bullies With Frans Timmermans
12 mei 2020 · 46 min
Standing up to bullies was ingrained in Frans Timmermans from his schooldays. The Dutchman came to prominence six years ago as his country's foreign minister with an emotional speech at the United Nations. Russian-backed separatists had shot down Flight MH17 packed with Dutch nationals, and Timmermans channelled the sentiments of a shocked nation to the world. In his next job as first vice president of the European Commission, he squared off with right-wing populists like the U.K.’s Nigel Farage and with autocratically minded leaders in Hungary and Poland. Last year Timmermans, a member of the Dutch Labour Party, led a passionate and energetic campaign to become the president of the Commission. And for a week it seemed he would be appointed. But his tenaciousness had stirred too much bad blood with Budapest and Warsaw, and that opened the way for conservatives to coalesce around a Christian Democrat alternative, Ursula von der Leyen. Timmermans took a role overseeing the European Green Deal as one of the Commission’s three Executive Vice Presidents. To succeed he needs to stand up to governments and vested interests rushing to reboot economies crashed by the coronavirus. That means ensuring the trillions of euros that the EU and its member states spend transform rather than entrench polluting industries and infrastructure. Timmermans starts off his first podcast interview with how songwriters from Jacques Brel to Bruce Springsteen have been a source of solace and inspiration for him. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Winning the Car Wars
5 mei 2020 · 40 min
Lockdowns in response to the coronavirus mean cities are quieter, skies clearer, and breathing is easier. For many city dwellers the lack of cars tearing through their streets has been a revelation amid the suffering and loss inflicted by Covid-19. Now, as lockdowns ease, some cities are putting plans to keep cars out into hyperdrive. Those moves foretell the kind of Europe where living together more sustainably becomes the norm. But such an outcome is not inevitable. Pollution lobbies and the challenges facing mass transit systems are among factors that could hold back a green recovery in some cities, says Mark Watts who heads the influential C40 network of global megacities. Pascal Smet is the popular secretary of state for urban development in Brussels who has fought for car-free urban space for years. In car-addicted Belgium, that goal once seemed like a galaxy far far away. Now it seems tantalisingly within reach. We’re grateful to the European Cultural Foundation for supporting this episode as a contribution to its Europe Day celebration. Visit the foundation's Europe Day website for more to see, read and experience. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Angst Over Italexit
20 april 2020 · 33 min
Italians were hit hardest when the coronavirus landed in Europe but the European Union was slow to help the country. The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has apologised — twice. The contrition is better late than never, says Marco Zatterin, deputy editor of La Stampa newspaper in Turin. Even so, far-right anti-European forces have been able to exploit the procrastination to regain traction. That has renewed anxiety about an Italexit — a scenario where Italy falls out of the Eurozone and even the EU. Throughout the crisis, Zatterin, a former Brussels correspondent and an accomplished author, has led one of two teams at La Stampa that published the newspaper without interruption as the virus tore through Turin and the neighboring Lombardy region. The episode also features poems by Ben Ray whose volumes include What I heard on the Last Cassette Player in the World. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Magic Hour" by Three Chain Links is licensed under CC by 4.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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The High Price of Muzzling Media
12 april 2020 · 31 min
The coronavirus outbreak has been a pretext for government censorship and a crackdown on journalists, who have been exposed to new criminal charges as well as violent attacks. Among those targeted by official smear campaigns is Blaž Zgaga, a best-selling author from Slovenia. To keep tabs on the abuses linked to Covid-19, press freedom organization Reporters sans frontières has created a service called Tracker 19. Head of the organization’s Brussels office Julie Majerczak warns that the ongoing assault on free expression is a profound threat to public health that's already cost lives. Director of the Bulgarian service for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Ivan Bedrov observes that showy donations by China make it even more of a struggle to report on the significant role the European Union can play in fighting the virus. The episode also features a poem by Ben Ray, whose volumes include What I heard on the Last Cassette Player in the World. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Magic Hour" by Three Chain Links is licensed under CC by 4.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Crisis Communications
5 april 2020 · 30 min
Eric Mamer took over last year as chief spokesperson for the European Commission, an institution he’s served since mid-1990s. When journalists were barred from his press room in March because of coronavirus, the amiable Frenchman had to improvise. His challenge is to put a crisis to good use: by reaffirming the relevance of the Commission’s midday briefing even as member states stretch the rules his institution is meant to enforce to breaking point. Israel Butler is head of advocacy for Liberties, a Berlin-based civil liberties organisation. Butler describes how citizens and journalists can frame discussions about Covid-19 in ways that burnish the appeal of democratic freedoms, rather than detract from them. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Magic Hour" by Three Chain Links is licensed under CC by 4.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Věra Jourová on Surveillance and Covid-19
29 maart 2020 · 28 min
Věra Jourová is the Czech politician who is vice-president for values and transparency at the European Commission, the body that proposes and enforces laws across the European Union. She was listed among the 100 most influential people of 2019 by Time magazine for helping pass GDPR — rules protecting Europeans' personal data — in her prior role as Europe’s justice commissioner. The Covid-19 emergency has added urgency to her new job, which includes responsibility for upholding democracy in Europe and countering disinformation and misinformation. In a March 27 interview Jourová says Brussels will vet moves in Hungary to give Prime Minister Viktor Orbán scope to rule by decree; she urges Facebook and Google to push official health advice to WhatsApp and YouTube; and she pledges to help safeguard the rights of Europeans if their mobile devices are used to track movements and enforce quarantines. “We definitely will not go the Chinese or Israeli way, where the use of these technologies to trace the people goes beyond what we want to see in Europe,” says Jourová. “Even in emergency situations the data privacy rules should be respected,” she says. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Magic Hour" by Three Chain Links is licensed under CC by 4.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Coronavirus vs. Democracy
23 maart 2020 · 21 min
Concern is growing that emergency powers deployed to control the coronavirus pandemic are being used to erode democracy and civil rights. Joelle Grogan, a senior lecturer in law at Middlesex University London, describes the curbs on liberty that may be coming your way — and what can be done so such measures are proportionate and fair. Grogan also sounds the alarm about steps that could allow Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to rule by decree in response to the outbreak. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Magic Hour" by Three Chain Links is licensed under CC by 4.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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A Field Guide to Autocrats
11 maart 2020 · 28 min
Michael Peel of the Financial Times unpicks the patterns underlying the authoritarian revival in Europe and worldwide. His recently published book, The Fabulists, explores how leaders menace democracy and human rights while claiming to be modernizers and saviors. It's an artfully written journalistic memoir from a decade of foreign correspondence. It's also a cautionary tale about how quickly countries catch the autocracy virus. Among Peel’s most conspicuous warnings: Europeans who think they are immune, are wrong. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. "Fantasy in my Mind" by Alan Špiljak is licensed under CC by 4.0. Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Campaigning in the Age of Bigots
9 februari 2020 · 32 min
How are campaigners winning progressive victories in the age of bigots and bullies? Kajal Odedra is the UK director of Change.org, a global petition service that allows members of the public to mobilise support for issues they care about. She’s also the author of the 2019 book Do Something: Activism for Everyone. Andrew Stroehlein is the European Media Director for Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organisation that investigates and reports on abuses worldwide. His Twitter feed on human rights violations and campaigns for justice has more than 90,000 followers. Magid Magid is among the more than 70 UK members of the European Parliament who had to leave office because of Brexit. One of his final initiatives as an MEP was to gather nominations for Europe’s Biggest Bigot Awards — and Europe’s Biggest Bigot-Busters. Click to Magid’s site for the winners. Musician Wael Koudaih contributed his track “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for our episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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Macron's Ugly Side
7 januari 2020 · 32 min
For many people, Emmanuel Macron still represents the great hope for an open and liberal Europe. So what to make of the French president’s growing preoccupation with Islam, terror and security? Mehreen Khan of The Financial Times dissects Macron’s policies and his recent interview with The Economist. For more on Macron, we go to Majlinda Bregu, the Sarajevo-based secretary general of the Regional Cooperation Council. She criticises Macron’s decision to veto EU membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania. She also rebuts prejudices about Albania heard over dinner in Brussels. Others in this episode include co-President of the European Greens Philippe Lamberts; the Emperor Charlemagne; and European Commission Vice President Albert Kuñardocz. Kuñardocz, who was formerly responsible for inland waterways and catering, is active on Twitter. In fact, Twitter is the only place you’ll find him. The celebrated Lebanese musician Wael Koudaih kindly contributed his tracks “Baghdad” and “Thawra” to this episode. You’ll find more of his music under the name Rayess Bek. Visit our website for episode art and for more EU Scream. Lees meer
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