Ep 198, presented by Equinor: Recovery recipes — Presidential problems — Scottish election

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.4 • 204 Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2021

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Recovery fund masterplans, a power struggle among EU presidents and a deep dive into next week's Scottish Parliament election all feature in this episode. Seeking approval for their share of the EU's €750 billion pandemic recovery package, governments are presenting spending and reform plans to the European Commission this week. POLITICO's Paola Tamma lays out the political battles that lie ahead. POLITICO's David Herszenhorn, Rym Momtaz and Andrew Gray discuss the inside scoop on lingering tensions between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel. They also debate von der Leyen's declaration in the European Parliament this week that the recent Sofagate scandal happened because she's a woman. Then we take a deep dive into Scottish politics, ahead of the parliamentary election on May 6. Andrew takes us to his hometown of Lanark, where SNP candidate Màiri McAllan and former Labour candidate Andrew Hilland discuss the huge political shift that's taken place there and across Scotland in recent years. We also hear from Kirsty Hughes, founder and director of the Scottish Centre on European Relations, about what would happen if an independent Scotland applied to join the EU. There's more on Scotland and the rise of the independence movement in the new episode of our Westminster Insider podcast, out early Friday morning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	EU Confidential will get started right after this message.
0:04.2	Today's episode is presented by Equino.
0:06.9	Europe aims to provide sustainable, affordable and secure energy for its citizens and industries.
0:12.8	We in Equinole believe our energy sources and solutions will contribute to the carbon neutral Europe of the future.
0:20.2	I cannot find any justification for what I was treated in the European treaties.
0:27.2	So I have to conclude that it happened because I am a woman.
0:35.8	Welcome to EU Confidential. I'm Andrew Gray, Politico's EU editor in Brussels.
0:41.3	And you just heard European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
0:44.8	And you'll hear more about the ongoing tension between her and European Council President,
0:49.7	Charles Michel, in just a moment.
0:52.1	But this week's podcast has a decidedly Scottish accent, even more than usual.
0:58.3	The second part is devoted to next week's Scottish Parliament election, where the Scottish
1:03.1	National Party is on course for victory, standing on a platform of independence followed by EU membership.
1:13.6	Of course, it's not as simple as that may sound,
1:19.7	but we'll take a virtual tour of my hometown to explore the huge shift in Scottish politics that's taken place in recent years. And you'll hear from an expert who's thinking ahead to how
1:25.8	an independent Scotland could join the EU.
1:28.6	If you think about the divorce negotiations with the UK, then the EU is actually going to have
1:34.9	to get, I think, a little bit involved with that. Normally obviously it would stand back from
1:39.1	such constitutional disputes, but that's going to slightly, or more than slightly, impact on the trade and
1:44.9	cooperation agreement, not least the fisheries. But first, let's stay in Brussels to check in
1:50.7	with our podcast panel. So a warm welcome to Riem Monttaz in Paris. Hi, Riem. Hello all.
1:56.9	To Chief Brussels correspondent David Hersonhorn in Brussels. Hi, David.
	...

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