Who’s in charge? What von der Leyen’s absence reveals about the EU

EU Confidential

POLITICO

Politics, News Commentary, News

4.4 • 175 Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While the president of the European Commission was secretly in the hospital, the next president of the United States was musing about invading Greenland. Ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, EU Confidential host Sarah Wheaton was joined by POLITICO editor-at-large Nicholas Vinocur, defense reporter Laura Kayali and trade reporter Koen Verhelst to analyze why Europe seems to be paralyzed in the face of looming trade wars, Arctic gamesmanship and the rise of populists in countries around the bloc. Further reading: Trump’s invasion of Greenland would be ‘the shortest war in the world’, by Laura Kayali and Hanne Cokelaere Grabbing Greenland would be a bad deal for Trump, by Koen Verhelst and Jakob Weizman Austria’s Kickl brings Europe’s anti-populist firewall crashing down, by Nicholas Vinocur, Nette Nöstlinger, Oliver Noyan and Max Griera Don’t freak out: Austria tries to reassure Brussels amid far right’s bid for power, by Nicholas Vinocur and Elena Giordano Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Normonia is a serious illness needs to be taken seriously and that is what the president is doing.
0:08.5	This being said and persistent and dedicated as she is, she is keeping the business running.
0:16.4	She is in daily contact with her team.
0:22.3	Who's in charge here?
0:24.7	It is Commission President Ursula Fonderlyan.
0:28.0	You just heard her chief spokeswoman Paula Pino confirm.
0:31.6	She's keeping the business running even when she's fighting a life-threatening infection.
0:36.5	And that means when Fonder Lyon is out of commission,
0:39.5	no pun intended, the EU executive is paralyzed.
0:48.0	What Pino didn't specifically mention was that Fonder Lion had actually been hospitalized for a week with that pneumonia.
0:55.1	And while she's out and about again with a successful recovery, her absence left the EU
0:59.8	without clear leadership in the midst of chaos. Elon Musk was meddling in European politics,
1:06.0	Donald Trump mused about taking Greenland by force, and in Austria, a far-right leader edged closer to power.
1:12.7	Her sick leave visibly slowed the response to these challenges. But beyond official statements,
1:18.7	does the EU even have a way to respond to these challenges? Are Trump's threats on trade and
1:23.9	territory being taken seriously, or are EU leaders just waiting with their fingers
1:28.7	crossed? And while the head of the commission is clearly going to recover, can the EU survive
1:34.7	a projected round of populist victories? I'm Sarah Wheaton, host of EU Confidential. Ahead of Donald
1:43.2	Trump officially taking office on Monday, I'm joined by my Politico
1:46.9	colleagues Nick Viniker, editor at large, Paris-based defense reporter Laura Kaili,
1:52.7	and here in the studio with me, trade reporter Kuhnberhaus.
1:58.5	So, Nick, let's start with you.
	...

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