Inside EU ambassadors' crisis 'bunker'

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.4 • 204 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Brussels is adjusting to a shifting geopolitical landscape. Coreper meetings — the regular gatherings of EU ambassadors — are becoming more frequent and a clear evidence of how the bloc is adapting. What was once largely preparatory now plays a central role in shaping negotiations before leaders ever sit down. Then, the energy saga continues. The European Commission, responding to Hungary’s warnings over disruptions to Russian oil flows through the Ukrainian Druzhba pipeline, says there is no immediate supply risk and that alternative routes are available. So is this a genuine squeeze — or political leverage ahead of elections in Hungary? And finally: former tech commissioner Thierry Breton, who faces U.S. sanctions over his role in drafting the Digital Services Act, makes his case before the European Parliament. Lawmakers largely rally behind him, framing the dispute as a test of Europe’s digital sovereignty and its complex relationship with Washington. But not everyone agrees — some argue the sanctions were predictable, given Breton’s earlier warnings to U.S. platforms. Plus: a brushing-teeth confession from a Swedish minister. We’d love to hear from you — tell us where and when you listen to the Brussels Playbook Podcast. Send us a note or a voice message on our WhatsApp at: +32 491 05 06 29. **A message from Amazon: Across Europe, businesses are growing with the AWS Cloud to build innovative, scalable products. From Europe’s largest enterprises and government agencies to the continent’s fastest growing startups, learn more about how AWS Cloud is helping businesses across Europe grow at ⁠AWS.eu⁠.** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is presented by Amazon. Across Europe, businesses are growing with the
0:05.9	AWS Cloud to build innovative, scalable products. From Europe's largest enterprises and government
0:11.8	agencies to the continent's fastest growing startups, learn more about how AWS Cloud is helping
0:17.7	businesses across Europe grow at aWS.
0:28.0	Good morning. It's Thursday, February 26, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.
0:41.1	The vibe in Brussels today is caffeinated, quite frankly, because I am just still recovering from my trip to Ukraine.
0:43.0	And meanwhile, the EU is speeding up its decision-making, thanks to a group of plugged-in
0:47.4	and equally caffeinated diplomats.
0:51.2	Also on today's podcast, the energy saga continues as Budapest is turning pipeline politics into leverage,
0:59.0	and Tiri Breton, now there's a blast from the past, he is taken some issue with the way the commission is or isn't defending him when it comes to the US travel ban against him.
1:10.2	I'm Zoya Shiftolovich, Politico's chief of you correspondent, and with me today in the studio is
1:15.2	a policy editor, Sarah Wheaton. Hey, Sarah. Hi, Zah, yeah, and I mean, no wonder you're caffeinated
1:19.6	because you didn't actually get any sleep since coming back from Kiev yesterday, did you?
1:23.6	Sleep is for the dead, Sarah.
1:28.3	All right.
1:30.1	Folks, let's dive in.
1:32.7	Our first story today is about the co-repair group.
1:34.5	Now, what is that?
1:41.7	So it's an unnecessarily jargony name for the top EU ambassadors from each countries. The acronym is Committee of Permanent Representatives. And ironically,
1:46.9	co-reper two is the main ambassadors to the EU. And they deal with kind of a lot of the really
1:52.5	political topics that we think about, such as trade. And then co-reper one are the deputy EU ambassadors.
1:58.7	They address things like climate, health, that sort of issue.
	...

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