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Today's episode is presented by Eni.

As a global energy company, Eni was an early believer in Europe, opening its first office in Brussels in 1960.

Today, it's supporting the EU's common vision of a carbon neutral Europe by 2050.

The European Union has a lot of huge benefits.

You know, if you think about a world where the biggest currency of power is connections.

Europe is more connected than almost anywhere else.

That both potentially makes it more powerful, but also makes it more vulnerable.

Welcome to EU Confidential, the number one European politics podcast.

I'm Andrew Gray, Politico's EU editor in Brussels.

And you just heard Mark Leonard, the head of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Later in the podcast, he'll tell us about his new book, The Age of Unpeace, and about how

Europe is doing in an era which is increasingly defined by global connections. Meanwhile,

here in Brussels and across Europe, eyes and ears are increasingly turning to Germany, where

the general election that will end the Angela Merkel era

is just over two weeks away. The campaign has turned out to be surprisingly interesting and

exciting, and it's not over yet. In the last few weeks, the centre-left social democrats,

the SPD, who were third in the polls not so long ago, have surged

to the front of the pack, establishing a clear lead over Merkel's Conservative camp. A lot of the

SPD's success seems to be down to its candidate for Chancellor, finance minister Olaf Schultz,

who's hardly a superstar, but is seen as solid, competent and dependable.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have been plunging to historic lows, as many voters doubt

...