Friends Of Europe Podcasts

12 May 2022: Episode 12 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast special on the war in Ukraine this week is hosted live from Zagreb, Croatia, where our European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme is hosting a three-day seminar on the topic of ‘Saving Democracy From Itself’. We explore the concept of ‘constructive journalism’ and why ensuring a free and open press can embolden democracies everywhere. Listen to former war correspondent, researcher on Libya and 2013 EYL40 - Mary Fitzgerald - and our Senior Fellow and expert in disinformation and cybersecurity - Chris Kremidas-Courtney.

5 May 2022: Episode 11 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking Podcast special on the war in Ukraine focuses on developments on the southern and eastern fronts; Russia’s military issues; Finland’s interest in becoming a NATO member; the Sixth Sanctions Package and what it means for diplomacy should the Pope step in to mediate. Tune in this week to find out what our Senior Fellow Jamie Shea says on all these points.

21 April 2022: After a short break we are back with Episode 10 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, hosted, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor former Reuters journalist, contributing editor at Politico and author of our newly published report on the Black Sea and Jamie Shea, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO. Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

7 April 2022: In Episode 9 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor former Reuters journalist, contributing editor at Politico and author of our newly published report on the Black Sea and Jamie Shea, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO.

31 March 2022: In Episode 8 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor former Reuters journalist, contributing editor at Politico and author of our newly published report on the Black Sea and Jamie Shea, former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at NATO.

24 March 2022: In Episode 7 of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the War in Ukraine, host, Tracey D’Afters is joined by Senior Fellows Paul Taylor and Chris Kremidas-Courtney and guest speaker, Isabelle Durant, Deputy Secretary General at UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

Ukraine, Senior Fellow Jamie Shea is joined by guest speaker Dr Stefanie Babst, former deputy assistant secretary general of NATO and now a senior associate fellow of the European Leadership Network. Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

10 March 2022: In this fifth episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Senior Fellows Paul Taylor and Jamie Shea are joined by guest speaker and Fellow for Health, Tamsin Rose. Since 1990, Tamsin has had a successful career working internationally. Following her role in media relations for the EU Delegation in Moscow, she has since specialised in public health and public participation issues, serving as Secretary General of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA). Tune in to hear what our Senior Fellows have to say.

1 March 2022: In this fourth episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast, Senior Fellows Paul Taylor and Chris Kremidas-Courtney are joined by guest speaker Merle Maigre. Merle is Senior Cyber Security Expert at Estonia’s e-Governance Academy, a non-profit that helps governments go digital, former Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn and member of the Executive Board of the Cyber Peace Institute in Geneva.

22 FEBRUARY 2022: In this third episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast, Senior Fellows Jamie Shea and Paul Taylor are joined by guest speaker Colonel Michael Ryan, Former deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy at the United States Department of Defense. Russian tanks rolled into the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk to the east of the country on Monday night. On Tuesday evening Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the upper house of his parliament to approve "the use of force outside Russian territory". Is this the beginning of a full-scale invasion? What will stop Putin now? Are the sanctions likely to have an impact?

Recorded 17 FEBRUARY 2022: In this second episode of Friends of Europe’s Frankly Speaking podcast, Senior Fellows Chris Kremidas-Courtney, Paul Taylor and Jamie Shea discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Will he, won’t he invade? In a week which saw US President Joe Biden warn of imminent war and German Chancellor Olaf Sholz fly to Moscow aiming to keep diplomacy alive, This week the whole world tried to second guess Vladimir Putin’s next moves regarding the ongoing crisis with Ukraine. While the US President Joe Biden was warning of an imminent war, German Chancellor Olaf Sholz flew to Moscow in yet another attempt to keep diplomacy alive. As Russian troops move forward into what looked like battle positions can an invasion still be averted? If an attack were to take place, how would it unfold? What more can EU countries and the US do to prevent an attack. Is there more military significance to the troops that NATO allies have deployed than mere political signalling?Are the forces tha

8 FEBRUARY 2022: Friends of Europe Senior Fellows Jamie Shea and Paul Taylor unpick the latest movements in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. In a week that has seen diplomatic efforts with French President Macron in Moscow and Kiev, and the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, speaking with President Joe Biden we ask them: Can this new wave of diplomacy avert war? Is President Macron going on behalf of France or is he going on behalf of Europe? Is this unilateral approach playing into the hands of President Putin who seems to want to adopt a divide and rule strategy when it comes to the EU?

Is the EU executing the decisive gear-shift that is needed to not only meet its own ambitious climate targets and agree on its vision for climate neutrality by 2050, but to successfully lead the way globally? Experts gathered at the Friends of Europe debate ‘Shifting gears: achieving climate neutrality by 2050’ – held in Brussels on 19 February – to assess where Europe is at, what it needs to do, where it’s going and whether it will arrive on time. Moderator and Director of Insights at Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani said that with a new Commission in place and its ambitions stated via the European Green Deal, the imminent unveiling of the new European Climate Law, the assessment of member states’ National Energy and Climate Plans, and the COP26 coming up in Glasgow in November, it’s an interesting time for the climate agenda that has a “last chance saloon” feeling about it. “Everyone is really thinking of Glasgow as the tipping point that we should look forward to – but should it be, can it be, given

The world energy market continues to experience major transformations: the rapidly falling cost of renewables and breakthrough innovations in energy use give reason to think that change is on the horizon. Organised at a time of critical leadership change in Europe, the presentation of the 2019 edition of the International Energy Agency’s flagship World Energy Outlook takes into account all the latest market and technology information, policy developments, as well as pathways to meet global climate and other sustainable development goals. This year’s outlook will provide the perfect opportunity to examine the potential way forward for achieving a climate neutral economy by 2050 and an ambitous European Green Deal, including the role of offshore wind as well as the importance of electricity and gas networks in a low-emissions future. Join IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol and key European leaders to hear how the outlook for global and European energy markets is set to evolve. What will tomorrow’s power se

As required by the EU Governance Regulation, every EU country must submit its final plans for achieving the 2030 targets on energy efficiency, renewables and greenhouse gas emissions. The plans – which cover the period of 2021-2030 – must be bold, comprehensive and inclusive, while considering Europe’s global competitiveness and trade interests. Not only will countries have to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), they also have to propose alternative pathways that are in line with the EU 2050 long-term climate strategy. The financial sector will have to play a central role if we are to achieve bold transformation. Putting the financial sector at the service of the climate must become a priority, and standards of investment must be developed and implemented across all sectors. The private sector needs these incentives to make the right investments and support member states and the EU to achieve a net zero emissions economy. How can member states and industries better cooperate to develop

The urgency of the climate crisis is impossible to brush off. Even if we wanted to ignore the extreme weather events that have plagued the planet recently, Greta Thunberg, along with hundreds of thousands of students from across Europe, have been making sure that we don’t. While the momentum for action is increasing across the board, civil society is clearly leading the charge, showing more enthusiasm than governments and industries combined. To effectively fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, everyone must however be on board and give it their all. Nevertheless, too few EU countries are considering revising their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to comply with science-based targets. When will the leaders of our world stop acting ‘like children’ and take the radical decisions needed to avoid environmental collapse? How can we further mobilise political and economic actors to comply with the Paris Agreement and 2030 SDGs? Will the private sector pa

Previous years have seen tremendous advancements in the rollout of new socially-driven technologies aimed at empowering citizens to become prosumers. As the ‘yellow vests’ movement highlights, citizens are asking for more social justice and argue that industry remains the privileged player. At the same time, some EU industries protest that current energy and climate policies may hinder their competitiveness and investment attractiveness. Europe’s Energy Union has left a legacy for the next mandate – a legacy which has the potential to allow for Europe’s full decarbonisation. For this to happen, it is time to close the policy book and start implementing measures that are socially just and inclusive while maintaining the competitiveness of Europe’s industry sector. What can be done to ensure that industry remains competitive while avoiding a social backlash? Are current policies effective in supporting the integration of citizens within energy systems or do we have to move in another direction? How can we ensu

The EU has already made great progress on the treatment of rare diseases. However, persistent gaps remain. Of the 5000 to 8000 rare diseases that exist in the EU, 95% do not have an effective therapy. On top of that, about a quarter of orphan drugs fail to reach marketing authorisation. Our 2017 debate on the subject revealed that budget pressures, bureaucratic obstacles and problems of scale are preventing rare disease patients from getting the treatment they need. During this lunch debate, we want to explore how the EU can move from evidence and incentives to equal access to new medicines for patients across the different health systems in the EU.

Greater EU strategic autonomy in defence and security is bound to be met with mixed reactions. While leaders in France, Germany and Spain have endorsed an EU army, transatlantic allies have rejected the idea. What are the perspectives from outside of the EU on the talks of a greater European strategic autonomy? Old alliances are being tested through the recent rise of protectionist stances and new “strongmen” around the globe. This has prompted EU leaders to look for further defence cooperation within the Union, but how is this seen by outsiders? NATO would certainly benefit from European allies shouldering more of the responsibility for defence, yet Russia has welcomed an EU army that could possibly diminish NATO’s collective effectiveness. Unlike the US and Russia, other global powers, such as China, seem to see the EU solely as an economic player rather than a significant international security actor. A shift in old alliances could redefine the EU’s relationship with other global and regional powers. A

The 2019 EU elections pose a new test for those seeking greater European strategic autonomy. Considerable gains for populist parties could see a change in the EU’s approach to defence and its geopolitical aspirations as a whole. On the other hand, pro-European coalitions could lead to the development of more autonomous enterprises such as the European Intervention Initiative. Furthermore, the question remains whether European countries can keep up with promises to increase their defence spending to levels that meet NATO standards. While full-throated calls for an EU army seem to have quieted, there continues to be support for efforts that seek greater European strategic autonomy. The EU’s geopolitical ambitions are likely to face pressure from both inside and outside the EU, from both EU countries that fear losing American support and NATO allies warning of the dangers of duplicating common efforts. Questions on what does European autonomy mean and look like, as well as concerns over how can this be achieved