From the Centre for European Reform, this is the CEO podcast.

It is a critical moment. If we do not act with urgency, we would then severely undermine the liberal order.

Brexit means Brexit, and we're going to make a success of it.

The wind is back in Europe's sales.

We have now a window of opportunity, but it will not stay open forever.

Hello, you're listening to the CER podcast with me, Beth Oppenheim.

And today I have Luigi Scatsieri with me in the Westminster office to discuss Libya.

Hi, Luigi.

Hello, Beth.

So the recent escalation of Libya's civil war has seen the Europeans jostling to regain their influence.

The EU was once one of the more influential actors on the Libya conflict, but it has found itself demoted to the sidelines as other actors like Russia, Turkey, the UAE and Egypt have actually squeezed Europe out.

And Europe has begun to look increasingly weak on this issue. But the Libya conflict, of course, remains very significant for Europe. There is a threat of a new refugee crisis, and the power vacuum in Libya has created a breeding ground for extremist groups like Islamic State.

In January, German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted an international conference in Berlin, which brought together the international actors involved in the conflict and they

reached a promise that they would stop interfering in Libya.

So we'll look at how successful the conference was, why Europe has struggled to assert its

influence in Libya, and also how the conflict might yet evolve in the future.

So first things first, Luigi. Why is Libya at war?

So I think I'll give you a bit of the backstory to start off with, but essentially after the

2011 Western intervention, which was led by Britain and France to oust Colonel Gaddafi,

you had a period of, I suppose, what in retrospect, it seems like, relative stability,

with orderly elections taking place in 2012, oil production picking up.

But that government fails to really consolidate its authority.

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