Can a group of strangers solve Europe’s biggest problems?
The Europeans | European news, politics and culture
Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer
0.0 • 0 Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you got a knock on your door from someone inviting you to Brussels to hash out some EU policies…you’d think it was a scam, right? Us, too. At least, that was the case until last week, when our producer Wojciech went to report on a European Citizens’ Panel, an event designed to allow 150 randomly selected Europeans to weigh in on some of the EU’s thorniest problems. This week we’re taking a deep dive into the ins and outs of what seems like the nerdiest game show ever. How do these panels work? What do they actually achieve? And crucially, are they worth the cost?
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Reported, written, and produced by Wojciech Oleksiak
Editorial support by Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer
Audio editing by Morgan Childs
Mixing and mastering by Wojciech Oleksiak
Music by Jim Barne, Mariska Martina and Blue Dot Sessions
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast has been produced in cooperation with Euronet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. |
| 0:11.4 | But this podcast would not be possible without the incredibly generous support of our amazing listeners who donate a little bit each month at patreon.com forward slash Europeans podcast. Welcome back to the Europeans. |
| 0:48.1 | It is a podcast for people who believe that Europe is more than just a geographical term. |
| 0:53.6 | And it's also for those who aren't sure yet |
| 0:56.2 | that they're willing to give it a shot. Well, I'm certainly willing to give it a shot. Then this is |
| 1:01.5 | the show for you. Hi, Dominic. Hi, Katie. Nice to be talking again. Yeah. It's all well over there. |
| 1:06.8 | It is. Do you know what? I wanted to talk about something that's been going down here in Paris |
| 1:10.8 | that I've noticed. |
| 1:12.3 | The cycle lanes have been taken over of late by commuters on roller skates. |
| 1:18.5 | That's so fun. Are you seeing this in the Netherlands? |
| 1:21.6 | No, I don't think I'm seeing that here in Amsterdam. But I kind of wish I was. That sounds great. How 80s. |
| 1:26.8 | Because it was also the case |
| 1:28.0 | in London when I went there a few weeks ago as well. And I'm not talking rollerblades. I'm talking |
| 1:32.3 | proper 1980-style roller skates. That's amazing. But commuters, people going to work with a little |
| 1:38.3 | workbats. What is going on? Is this a TikTok thing? Have I missed something? It's probably a |
| 1:41.9 | TikTok thing. I hope they're wearing like their elbow pads and their knee pads. They are. That's another thing that makes it look gloriously 80s. I'm super into it. I will not be commuting this way myself, but I'd like to see it. Have you been over there in Amsterdam? Fine. You know, I'm just settling in with my new cats at home. One of them wants to sit on my neck the entire time, which is really sweet. |
| 2:01.2 | But I'm a bit worried I might be allergic to her. It's not cat allergies, it's hay fever, |
| 2:05.5 | right? Fingers crossed. Yes, tell yourself that. Anyway, enough talk about my cats. I guess we should |
| 2:10.5 | probably talk about some European bureaucrats or something. I'm about something very clever |
| 2:14.7 | here. From bureaucrats to bureaucrats. |
| 2:20.5 | Is that incredibly clever? Does that make sense? |
| 2:23.2 | I'm rolling with it. |
... |
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