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Good morning.

It's Thursday, February 12, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.

The vibe today, it's strategic autonomy meets strategic dysfunction.

EU leaders are gathering in a castle in Limburg for an informal retreat, and they're going to discuss how to revive Europe's

economy. Also on the table, the Parliament has sued the Commission over Hungary, and we'll get a

hint on who's going to win that case today. And a little taste of castle diplomacy. I'm Zoya

Shafdilovic, Politico's chief of you correspondent, and with me today is our policy editor, Sarah Wheaton. Hey Zoya, I'm glad to be with you, but, like, aren't you supposed to, like, be at that castle to cover this summit? Listen, the things I do for this podcast, that's where I'm going next, Sarah. All right, well, just be careful. Don't fall. while I won't be running. This time it'll be a bus that ferries me to Limburg. All right, well, just be careful, don't fall. Well, I won't be running. This time, it'll be a bus that ferries me to Limburg.

All right, let's get started.

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