The Commission’s next big overhaul?

Brussels Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.4 • 202 Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2026

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the Commission’s oldest and most powerful departments may be heading for a dramatic overhaul — or even extinction. DG REGIO oversees the hundreds of billions of euros that go towards the social development of local regions and cities. But its potential restructuring by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is a clear sign that the EU's aims are shifting. Zoya and Ian explain the thinking behind this redesign and the wide-ranging impacts. Also, after just a year as German chancellor, Friedrich Merz’s popularity is plunging to new lows. His most recent comeback tour around the country — aimed at reviving support — has backfired. On the show, we try to understand why the conservative leader is struggling to connect with Germans. Finally: Purchasing a train ticket across Europe is a convoluted process that involves different railway operators from different countries. The European Commission wants to simplify that ... but it won’t be easy. Do you work at the European Commission? We’d love to hear your take on the DG REGIO restructuring or big reshuffles taking place in other departments! Send us a message to our WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. Anonymity guaranteed if you need it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 13, and this is the Brussels Playbook podcast.
0:12.1	The vibe in Brussels today is restructuring anxiety.
0:16.7	Is that a vibe?
0:19.1	It is today, Ian, because one of the commission's biggest and oldest departments might be heading for the bin.
0:25.8	Also on the pod, Friedrich Mertz has been German Chancellor for a year now and things are going from bad to worse.
0:32.9	And the European Commission wants to make it easier to travel across Europe by train.
0:37.4	That's exciting.
0:39.3	I'm Zoya Shafdanovich, and with me today is Ian Wishart.
0:41.6	Hi, Ian.
0:42.3	Hi, Zoya.
0:43.0	Did I see you on the picket line yesterday in the general strike in Belgium?
0:47.1	You saw me walking past the picket line on my way to work because you're a slave driver, Ian.
0:50.6	You're a selfish.
0:54.4	Well, listen, let's start with this super interesting story that Gerardo Fortuna, our colleague
1:00.5	on the Brussels playbook, has broken this morning.
1:03.4	So one of the European Commission's oldest, richest, biggest, most powerful departments
1:07.8	might be heading for a pretty significant overhaul, maybe even the
1:12.6	trash can. That's DG Regio Ian. Yeah, this is the department in the European Commission that
1:18.2	dishes out a lot of the EU funds, actually hundreds of billions of euros to the various regions
1:24.0	around Europe, but a lot of the poorer regions in particular, which is traditionally
1:28.3	what EU subsidies has been used for.
1:30.3	But it looks like there is some restructuring underway or certainly some ideas that it might be
	...

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