The Brussels Report Podcast

He served as the managing director of the Institute of International Finance, Inc. from 1993 to 2013, leading it in its prominent role during the European sovereign debt crisis, including the private sector involvement (PSI) agreement reached between European countries and financial organisations on the one hand and the Greek government on the other, "the biggest sovereign restructuring in history."

Before that, he acted as managing director at J.P. Morgan & Co. from June 1991 to July 1993, and he also held various positions in the George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan administrations: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Policy Development and Senior Advisor for Policy to the Secretary of the Treasury (1988-1989); U.S. Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (1984-1989), and concurrently as Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Economic Policy (1985-1988); Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Monetary Affairs (1983-1985); and U.S. Alternate Executive Director at the IMF (1982-1983).

Currently, he is an Advisory Partner of Partners Group and Chairman of Partners Group Board of Directors, USA.

He is the author of a newly published book, titled "Euroshock. How the Largest Debt Restructuring in History Helped Save Greece and Preserve the Eurozone" (March 2024)

In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor ⁠Pieter Cleppe⁠ discusses the following topics with him:

-        How sustainable is the Eurozone? Will Eurozone democracies be able to withstand future shocks in case of fiscal transfers and fiscal adjustment programmes?

-        Are there similarities between indebted Western democracies today and 1980s rate hikes, which also troubled Latin American countries at the time?

-        What are the chances of Argentina’s President Milei succeeding?

-        Does bitcoin have a future? 

Daniel Kral is a Senior Economist within the macroeconomics forecasting division of Oxford Economics. He joined Oxford Economics in April 2021 in London and leads the coverage of the Nordic region. Daniel holds a Master of Research from University College London where his thesis won the Frank Carter prize for the best post-graduate thesis in 2014. Before, he worked at IHS Markit, VEON, RS Consulting and at the Brussels office of British EU affairs think tank Open Europe.

On Twitter/X, he is one of the most prominent analysts monitoring the developments of European economies.

In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor ⁠Pieter Cleppe⁠ discusses the following topics with him:

- Germany's deindustrialisation: how serious is it?

- The Eurozone: trouble on the horizon? Can higher interest bring down monetary union?

- What about Europe's growth poles. There is Poland, but are there others?

- The economic impact of Brexit, looking back

https://twitter.com/DanielKral1/status/1745399662431924249

https://twitter.com/DanielKral1/status/1745855091674956166

https://twitter.com/brussels_report/status/1415636769530388486

Mohamed Magdy Farid (Arabic: محمد مجدي فريد, born 18 August 1982) is an Egyptian Classic Liberal politician. He has been a Senator since 2020. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial and management engineering from October 6 University, and a master's degree in Sustainable development Planning with a specialization in Economic Development from the Egyptian National Planning Institute. He was a founding member of the Free Egyptians Party but sits now as an independent.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor ⁠Pieter Cleppe⁠ discusses the following topics:

• The war in Gaza and the implications for the relationship between Israel and Egypt
• Elections, democracy and the rule of law in Egypt
• The state of the economy of Egypt and the role of the IMF
• The impact of the EU’s new “CBAM” climate tariff on the economy of Egypt
• Cooperation between Egypt and the EU on migration and the possibility of a deal to outsource EU asylum processing to Egypt

https://twitter.com/Mohamed_M_Farid/status/1736298296652583393

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor ⁠Pieter Cleppe⁠ discusses the following topics:

-        The background of the crisis and civil war in Darfur

-        Why do there seem to be double standards with regards to the media coverage for this conflict versus other conficts, and political attention for it in Europe and internationally?

-        The importance of the Sahel region and Islamist terrorism for Europe

-        What can the EU and the United States do? What could the African Union do?

-        What’s the role of Russia and China?

 https://twitter.com/philippe_dam/status/1726895169197261277

https://twitter.com/brussels_report/status/1726938248604516788

Brad Lips is the chief executive officer of Atlas Network, a US non-profit that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups around the world. It aims to secure for all individuals the rights to economic and personal freedom, through its global network of strategic partners.

Atlas Network was founded in 1981 by Sir Antony Fisher, a British entrepreneur, who was influenced by economist F.A. Hayek and his book, The Road to Serfdom.

On its website, it notes that “Atlas Network partners in Europe are skeptical of the illiberal right and the socialist left. Ours is a practical agenda:

-         To restore economic competitiveness in Europe by removing burdensome regulations;

-         To rebuild trust in liberal institutions by reining in the scope of their authority; and

-         To liberate individuals across the continent to use their talents within the kind of “system of natural liberty” that Adam Smith recognized as conducive to increasing the wealth of nations.

In recent months we created the Ukraine Freedom Fund to address special challenges in this war-torn country, and in 2023 we launched a Competitiveness Reform Hub through which our European partners can collaborate and draw inspiration in meeting the acute economic challenges of this decade. These activities complement long-running Atlas Network activities in Europe, including the annual Europe Liberty Forum, the Transatlantic Think Tank CEO Summit, and the Europe Liberty Award.”

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor ⁠Pieter Cleppe⁠ discusses the following topics:

- The differences between the U.S. and European policy debate

- Challenges to raise funds in various part of the world

- How to define the "liberty movement"?

- What's the use of party political action and parapolitics? What to tell those that have giving up hope and focus on their private life or their business?

- How can the liberty movement better coordinate and exploit opportunities? 

https://twitter.com/brussels_report/status/1676241378710364161

https://twitter.com/bradlips/status/1686822619071320064

https://twitter.com/AtlasNetwork/status/1692622415606522053  

Christopher Snowdon is the head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs. His research focuses on lifestyle freedoms, prohibition and policy-based evidence. He is a regular contributor to the Spectator, Telegraph and Spiked and often appears on TV and radio discussing social and economic issues.

Snowdon’s work encompasses a diverse range of topics including ‘sin taxes’, state funding of charities, happiness economics, ‘public health’ regulation, gambling and the black market. Recent publications include ‘Drinking, Fast and Slow’, ‘The Proof of the Pudding: Denmark’s Fat Tax Fiasco’, ‘A Safer Bet’, and ‘You Had One Job’. He is also the author of ‘Killjoys’ (2017), ‘Selfishness, Greed and Capitalism’ (2015), ‘The Art of Suppression’ (2011), ‘The Spirit Level Delusion’ (2010), ‘Velvet Glove, Iron Fist’ (2009).

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the Nanny State Index (NSI), which is authored by Snowdon, along with partners across Europe.

This is a league table of the worst places in Europe to eat, drink, smoke and vape. The initiative was launched in March 2016 and has been a media hit right across Europe.  

https://twitter.com/epicenterEU/status/1663806883218505728

https://twitter.com/iealondon/status/1684593206518845440

https://twitter.com/cjsnowdon/status/1684635014691008513

Rod Richardson is a philanthropist who serves as the President of the Grace Richardson Fund (GRF), which is the leading private foundation pioneering free market climate policy. He is also co-founder/co-chair of the Climate & Freedom International Coalition Meeting, co-facilitated in collaboration with Americans for Tax Reform Foundation/Tholos Foundation. 

GRF pioneers new free market solutions to emerging 21st century challenges.  Their free market climate policy consists of a set of new proposals rooted in the observation that the key solution for climate change, poverty and the evils that follow, is one and the same thing: more freedom, noting that “all the tools in the free market toolbox — free trade, competition, property rights, supply side tax policy, democracy, and rule of law, etc. — can be combined in novel ways to powerfully accelerate not only the innovation and deployment of ever cleaner solutions, but the expansion of freedom itself — and with that, the eradication of global poverty. As a hybrid private foundation / think tank, GRF follows a strategy of collaborative policy innovation.  It convenes scores of fellow think tanks and hundreds of scholars and experts, to brainstorm and develop new freedom-expanding solutions to the pressing problems of our time.”

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Why taxing carbon and the punitive approach to deal with climate change is simply not working

- What could be an alternative, more functional approach?

- The role of the non-Western world in the context of climate policies

- Nuclear power and liberalisation of energy markets 

Martin Kinnunen is a Member of the Swedish Parliament (SD-ECR). He has been a Member of the Riksdag since 2014, elected for the Stockholm constituency since 2018. Before, he was elected for the Gothenburg constituency. He is a member of both the EU Committee and the Environment and Agriculture affairs Committee, and serves as the climate and environmental policy spokesperson for his party.

Kinnunen has been press secretary for the Sweden Democrats in 2010–2014 and also served as Chairman of Sweden Democratic Youth between 2005 and 2007. Kinnunen is a trained economist (PhD) and has completed a bachelor of philosophy degree in economics at Stockholm University.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The EU's energy crisis: how did it came so far and are EU member states on the right path?

- The EU's green deal and ever more expensive climate policies: is the Swedish EU Council Presidency putting the brakes on?

- Is there a chance to put a stop to EU legislative plans to ban the combustion engine?

- The latest on the European Union's protectionist response to the American "Inflation Reduction Act"

https://twitter.com/brussels_report/status/1502312339688894470

https://twitter.com/altingetmiljo/status/1627922819454734336

https://twitter.com/Martin_Kinnunen/status/1613638903193378840

Dalibor Rohac, originally from Slovakia, is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies European political and economic trends, specifically Central and Eastern Europe, the European Union (EU) and the eurozone, US-EU relations, and the post-Communist transitions and backsliding of countries in the former Soviet bloc.

He is concurrently a research associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels and a fellow at Anglo-American University in Prague.

Before joining AEI, Dr. Rohac was affiliated with the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, the Max Beloff Centre at the University of Buckingham, the London-based Legatum Institute, and the Center for the New Europe in Brussels.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Dalibor Rohac's latest book, entitled “Governing the EU in an Age of Division”.

- The eurozone and the risks resulting from higher interest rates

- The interest in Europe amongst D.C. policy wonks, beyond pure defense issues

- The political situation, rule of law and the economic situation in Slovakia and Central Europe

Dalibor Rohac recently wrote this comment for Brussels Report as well as the following insightful articles for The Spectator and AEI.

Previously, he authored “In Defense of Globalism” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019). His previous book, “Towards an Imperfect Union: A Conservative Case for the EU” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016), was included on Foreign Affairs magazine’s list of best books of 2016. Dr. Rohac has testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has briefed the US Helsinki Commission. His commentary has been published widely in the popular media, including in the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His scholarly articles have been featured in policy journals, including Constitutional Political Economy, Journal of Institutional Economics, Kyklos, and Public Choice.

He has a PhD in political economy from King’s College London; an MPhil in economics from St Antony’s College, University of Oxford; an MA in economics from George Mason University; and a BA in economics from Charles University in Prague.

https://twitter.com/brussels_report/status/1610945251853598725

https://twitter.com/spectator/status/1631352628180393985

https://twitter.com/AEIfdp/status/1631731165160935424

Elena Leontjeva is the co-founder and President of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LMFI). She founded the influential Lithuanian think tank in 1990.

She holds degrees in economics, mathematics and programming and has directed research and policy advocacy at the Institute, whilst playing a key role in her country’s transition. Ms. Leontjeva was named by magazine Veidas among the ten personalities who have changed Lithuania. She has contributed to the reforms in the Banking system, introduction of the Currency Board and the Litas Credibility Law, building the legal foundations for the Securities Market and the Stock Exchange, Deregulation, Tax and budget reform as well as the introduction of Private Pension Insurance. She has published widely in the press and has also dedicated herself to writing fiction.

Ms Leontjeva has served as a State Councillor on economic reform in six consecutive administrations, and in 1998-9 has been chief economic advisor to Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus. She has also served on official bodies engaged in the transition from the Soviet system, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Sunset Commission, etc.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with her:

- What's the key reason we are facing inflation right now? Energy problems, monetary policy, the fall-out of Covid lockdowns, or something else?

- What should the ECB be doing?

- What if strong anti-inflation action by the ECB leads to a breakup of the Eurozone?

- The economic situation and free market reform in Lithuania and the Baltics

Daniel J. Mitchell is a public policy economist based in Washington D.C. For years, he has been extensively commenting fiscal and budgetary policy in the OECD, having served as a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, as an economist for Senator Bob Packwood and at the Senate Finance Committee, and as a Director of Tax and Budget Policy at Citizens for a Sound Economy. He is also the founder of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and often comments on fiscal and economic policy on his blog.

This podcast is an audio record of a Brussels Report seminarrecently hosted in Brussels, in cooperation with the Tholos Foundation, where Daniel J. Mitchell discussed the state of public finances in the Eurozone, exploring the following questions. This against a background of European governments engaging in yet another round of budgetary expansion as a response to the energy crisis, after stretching their fiscal capacity to deal with the consequences of Covid lockdowns, all amidst increasing interest rates and with a monetary union with only shaky political underpinning.

- How bad is the situation really for Eurozone governments?

- Could this ultimately once again threaten the monetary union?

- Which fiscal and economic policies can governments pursue to stimulate economic growth to alleviate debt levels?

- Which Eurozone member states are mostly in trouble?

His presentation can be downloaded here.

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1586415034296852480

More from Dan:

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1585954003287883777

https://twitter.com/brussels_report/status/1582324987523842048

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1603074157771628546

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1602653705454723074

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1599084162438533121

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1596214446661472257

https://twitter.com/danieljmitchell/status/1587147703493984259

Dr. Björn Peters is a German physicist and energy economist. He is also an investor into the newest generation of nuclear power plants, as co-founder and CFO of Dual Fluid Energy. He heads the research and consulting institute Peters Coll, which he founded, and advises entrepreneurs and politicians. On a voluntary basis, he is a founding member of the Nuclear Pride Coalition as well as a member of the federal board and head of the energy policy department at the economically liberal think tank “Deutscher Arbeitgeberverband e.V.” (German Employers‘ Association), where he is responsible for the energy policy column „The Energy Question“.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- What is the cause of the energy crisis?

- The German debate on extending nuclear power plants

- What to expect from the new generation of nuclear power plants, as for example small modular reactors (SMRs)?

- How to assess the EU's response to the crisis, in particular the proposals for price regulation?

- Can shale exploration in Europe offer solutions?

- Are energy blackouts to be expected in Europe?

Ronald-Peter (Ronnie) Stöferle is an Austrian Managing Partner and Fund manager at Incrementum AG, based in the Principality of Liechtenstein. The company focusses on asset management and wealth management and is one hundred percent owned by its partners. Ronald manages a fund that invests based on the principles of the Austrian School of Economics.

He is the Author of the annual In Gold We Trust-report, one of the most comprehensive gold studies worldwide, published since 2014 and read all over the world. The title of this year’s report, published in May, is “Stagflation 2.0”.

Before becoming partner at Incrementum, he worked in the research department of Vienna-based Erste Group, where he started writing about gold in 2006. He gained media attention after forecasting that the price of gold would rise to USD 2,300/ounce at a time when the price was only at USD 500.

In 2014, he co-authored a book on investing based on the Austrian School of Economics. The English version of the book “Austrian School for Investors – Austrian Investing between Inflation and Deflation” was published in fall 2015.

***

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

– The “In Gold we Trust” report

– To what extent can inflation be blamed on Central Banks and to what extent on the energy crisis, the war and the Covid lockdown fall-out?

– Should we expect material interest rate hikes by the ECB, given how this may cause the break-up of the common European currency?

– The expectation for silver prices, assuming energy prices will remain high, which seems to be a troubling aspect of silver mining

– Should ordinary savers put a percentage of their wealth in crypto? Or should they play it safe and stick with gold?

– How risky is it to invest in government bonds, even assuming interest rates may rise in the next 10 years globally?

In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the tense relationship between the EU and Iran with two eminent experts on the topic:

Rebecca Schönenbach, CEO of Veto! For the Rule of Law and expert in extremism and terrorist financing (Part I of the podcast)

and

Kambiz Ghafouri, Director KGM Media, journalist and expert on Iran domestic and foreign policy (Part II of the podcast)

The following topics are being discussed:

- Are we close to a new Iran deal? What are the pitfalls? Are there any upsides?

- Are Iran and Russia rivals or are they full-fledged allies? How should the EU and the West position themselves against this?

- What should be EU policy towards Iran?

- Is Russia already using Iran to circumvent the sanctions? Will this increase after a deal with Iran?

Matthias Bauer is a German economist and Director at European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), a think tank based in Brussels dedicated to supporting free trade. He works on EU and global trade policy with a focus on digital and technology policymaking.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- How to assess the two new import EU legislative initiatives to regulate the digital sector, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA)? Will these foster innovation, or, on the contrary, constitute an extra contribution to Europe losing competitiveness?

- The concept of “Strategic Autonomy” and the future of globalization. Is there a danger of the West decoupling from the rest of the world?

- The OECD’s Pillar I (redistributing corporate tax income) and II (minimum tax rates) initiatives

- What to think of the Western sanctions against Russia?

- The proposed EU external Climate tariff CBAM: will it effectively function as EU protectionism? This is a topic often covered by ECIPE.

- Lobbying in the Brussels bubble: Is it normal that green and other groups funded by the European Commission also lobby that institution? A question also raised in a 2019 paperauthored by Bauer.

Charlie Weimers is a Swedish MEP (ECR-SD), elected to the European Parliament since 2019.

He serves at the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and is is a substitute member of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Delegation to the U.S. He is the co-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists Migration Working Group.

Before he moved to SD, he has served as the chairman of the Swedish Young Christian Democrats between 2008 and 2011.

In the 2021 Brussels Report Ranking of MEPs, Weimers came second. He has been regularly publishing comment pieces on Brussels Report, amongst others supporting the migration policies of the Danish government.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE). How did it all go so wrong and why does it lack legitimacy?

- Migration policy and the EU Commission: is there any hope for change?

- EU funding to Islamofascist groups: is attention for this problem increasing?

- The upcoming Swedish election: What to expect?

Dr. Stephanie Daher is a researcher at the European Foundation for Democracy, where she specializes in researching radicalisation and extremism in EU Member States as well as in MENA countries, with a particular focus on prisons. She has also studied disinformation. She has worked as a research consultant with several European institutions and holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Sant’Anna Advanced School of Studies in Italy, where she specialised in contentious politics and protest movements in the Middle East and North Africa. She also has an MA in World Politics and International Relations from the University of Pavia (Italy) and a Masters Degree in Law from the Lebanese University.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the topic of disinformation by Russia and China, why it matters for young Europeans and what to do to increase awareness among them.

Michiel Hoogeveen is a Dutch Member of European Parliament (JA21-ECR) He started his career in the financial sector and as a freelance North Korea researcher, visiting the country multiple times. In 2019, he was elected to the States of South Holland, and in April2021, he became an MEP.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The Conference on the Future of Europe and the ECR’ stance here

- Inflation and the policies of the European Central Bank

- Migration policy: What can the EU change here?

- The course of the EU. Is thorough reform still possible?

Hermann Tertsch is a Spanish Member of European Parliament (ECR – Vox), elected in 2019. Before that, he worked as a journalist for about 40 years, amongst others for Spanish press agency EFE, center-left newspaper El País, conservative newspaper ABC, Telemadrid and Radio Nacional de España.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eueditor Pieter Cleppediscusses the following topics with him:

- The ECR's decision to walk out from the Conference on the Future of Europe

- What's the best way to get the EU back on the path of a vehicle to open up trade?

- What to think of the EU financing arms transfers to Ukraine?

- The current political situation in Spain, including the Catalan quest for more autonomy

Danish investor Jeppe Kirk Bonde is the most copied investor on eToro, a leading investment platform with 27 million users, which enables investors to copy traders automatically. Currently, 25,000 people copythis portfolio, for an amount of more than $73 million.

Notably, he has recorded an annual average return of more than 30 percent since 2013, an extraordinary performance, also comparedwith the likes of Benjamin Graham (21% average annual return between 1936 and 1955), Peter Lynch (an average annual 29% between 1977 and 1990) and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (about 15 % per annum on average since 1990), as also recorded by a Brussels Report article on stock investing.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Is buying stocks a good way for people to defend their savings against inflation and ECB monetary debasement? What’s the ideal strategy to follow and how much of their savings should people invest into stocks?

- What about gold as a means to protect one’s savings? And gold mines?

- Is this the right time to invest in commodities, like oil, coal and gas, and is it wise to base investment decisions on news events?

- How should investors deal with the development of ever more difficult trade with Russia and China?

- Are we nearing the end of the great growth cycle in tech or is there much progress ahead, for example with AI?

Ladislav Ilčić is a Member of European Parliament for Croatia, sitting with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR). He is a member of the “Croatian Sovereignists” party, a former member of the Croatian Parliament (2015-2016), special adviser to the ministers of Foreign Affairs (2016-2017) and Culture (2017-2018), and has served as city councilor on the Varaždin City Council (2013-2017). He is also an accomplished musician, a violinist and member of the Symphonic orchestra of the Croatian radio/ television since 1995.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The Conference on the Future of Europe and the ECR Campaign around this

- The conclusions of the ECR’s conference on the Western Balkans, the local situation and the responsibility of the European Union

- The idea of a “mini-schengen” for the six Balkan countries that are currently not a member of the EU

- His vision for the EU, and the importance of the subsidiarity principle

Professor Zdzisław Krasnodębski is a Polish sociologist, social philosopher, publicist and professor at the University of Bremen, Germany, who has served as a Member of the European Parliament since 2014, for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR). He is also an associate professor at the Akademia Ignatianum in Cracow.

He has served as a Vice President of the European Parliament and is currently a member of the Working Group on the Conference on the Future of Europe.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- The Conference on the Future of Europe

- The ECR Campaign to offer an alternative vision which includes all Europeans, not only the EU,

- The Eastern Partnership Summit, hosted by the ECR Group this Tuesday and Wednesday and the importance of the concept of Europe as a civilizational choice.

- The current conflict in Ukraine

- Poland’s relationship with the EU

Dick Roche is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who has served, amongst others, as Minister of State for European Affairs from 2002 to 2004 and 2007 to 2011 and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from 2004 to 2007. He has also been a member of Ireland’s Lower House and Senate (Dail Eireann and Seanad Eireann) and he was the Irish Delegation leader of the Convention on the Future of Europe in 2002 and 2003. Furthermore, he has served as the Vice-President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (ELDR, which later became ALDE). He once also worked for the office of the former speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Tip O'Neill. Currently, he works as a public policy consultant.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Looking back at the Irish bailout, a decade later

- What are the remaining challenges for the EU and the UK, following Brexit?

- Which path should the post-Brexit EU pursue?

Daniel Dalton is a former cricketer and a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2019, previously having worked in the European Parliament for his party's Group. He is the outgoing ceo of Britcham, the British Chamber of Commerce in the EU and Belgium.

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Brexit: how to improve the current relationship and how to fix the ongoing disagreements?

- The EU approach to innovation and regulation

- The European Parliament and the EU after Brexit: did it change and how?

Dr. Thorsten Polleit, a German national, is Chief Economist of Degussa, Europe’s largest precious metal trading house. Before that, he worked for more than 15 years in the international investment banking industry.

Since 2014, Thorsten is honorary professor for economics at the University of Bayreuth. He is Adjunct Scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, US Alabama, and president of the Ludwig von Mises Institut Deutschland.

In 2012 he was awarded The O.P. Alford III Prize in Political Economy by the Mises Institute. Thorsten is a value-oriented investor and acts as investment consultant for institutional investors. He published many articles in refereed journals and is the author of various books (“Der Antikapitalist. Ein Weltverbesserer, der keiner ist“ (2020, Finanzbuch Verlag), „Mit Geld zur Weltherrschaft“ (2020, Finanzbuch Verlag), "Ludwig von Mises - der kompromisslose Liberale" (2018, F.A.Z.-Verlag)) . His personal website is: www.thorstenpolleit.com.

***

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Is it possible that inflation will remain at 4 to 5 percentt for a few years?

- How bad is the “zombiefication” of the European economy?

- How stable is the Eurozone really right now?

- What to expect from crypto and bitcoin?

- Is a massive correction in asset prices - in particular of stocks, real estate and bonds - conceivable and where is the correction most likely to happen?

- How sustainable is the USD as the world reserve currency? Is it conceivable China or a competitor takes over?

- Is gold ever going to be officially readopted as the basis of our monetary system?

- What to think of the IMF's SDR expansion? May this be viable to extend the life of the fiat money system?

Professor Em. Samuel Furfari is a Chemical Engineer, having taught energy geopolitics and energy politics at Brussels ULB University (Université Libre de Bruxelles), between 2003 and 2021, where he also obtained his phD, with a thesis in the field of energy.

Between 1982 and 2018, he was a senior official at the Energy Directorate-General of the European Commission, where he has devoted an entire career to energy technology and policy.

He has given lectures at various universities and is the author of ten books on energy and sustainable development, as well as many articles, including on Brussels Report.

Since 2019, he is the President of the European society of engineers and industrialists. He has been named "Knight of the Order of Merit" of the Republic of Poland.

***

In this this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses the following topics with him:

- Whether EU energy policies have contributed to increased energy prices

- Whether nuclear energy should be recognized as environmentally friendly, also in the light of the EU's "taxonomy" regulation, which classifies economic activities as to how environmentally friendly they are

- The "ITER" research project on "nuclear fusion"

- Whether there are any grounds to consider Russian firm Gazprom to have engaged in potential abuse of its dominant market position in the EU

- What to make of the EU's “Fit for 55” climate change plans and the role for renewables

- How long would it realistically take for countries to increase the role of nuclear, in particular through the development of the newest generation of nuclear reactors, as for example French President Macron has announced?

In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe interviews Pelle Christy Geertsen, a Brussels-based consultant and a true "Brussels bubble" insider. He is the Managing Director of Brussels strategy consultancy Euraffex, where he's active since 2014, and has lots of experience in EU politics, starting from 1997 in his native Denmark. He has been working at the European Parliament between 2005 and 2014, assisting MEPs in both Brussels and Copenhagen.

In particular, the following topics are being explored:

- The struggle to succeed of European Parliament President David Sassoli, amid the "mid-term" replacement of various top positions in the European Parliament and its committees.

- The possibility of a new powerful eurosceptic alliance, or "supergroup", gathering political parties from both the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Identity and Democracy (ID), and the relevance of it

- The European Parliament's hypocrisy when it comes to promoting "diversity"

- How important is the European Parliament as a "intermediate stage" for national politics nowaways?

In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe interviews Dr. Demir Murat Seyrek, a Senior Policy Advisor at the Brussels-based think tank European Foundation for Democracy, to discuss developments in Turkey.

In particular, the following topics are being explored:

- The prospects for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to remain in charge after the next elections, due to take place by 2023

- The Turkish economy and high inflation and to what extent this affects politics

- Increased hostility against refugees in Turkey and the consequences for both the EU-Turkey deal and possible future deals to cope with migratory flows

- Turkish relations with Russia and China, , also in the context of its purchase of the Russian S 400 missile defense systems

- Turkish foreign interventions in Syria and Libya

After seven years as the EU-correspondent of Dutch magazine Elsevier, Jelte Wiersma has returned to the Netherlands to cover Dutch affairs. In this episode of the Brussels Report podcast, he looks back on his experience of covering EU politics, discussing the following topics with  BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe:

- The attitude of Dutch public opinion towards the European Union. Is there more eurosceptic sentiment and should eurocrats worry? 

- To what extent do unaffordable house prices in the Netherlands cause people to criticise the euro and the ECB? 

- What's the relationship between Germany and the Netherlands?

- What can the Dutch government do in practical terms to close the gap between Dutch citizens and the EU? 

Zoltan Kesz is the Director of Operations at the Hungarian Civitas Institute, which promotes democracy, human rights, civil liberties and European integration, as well as the honorary president of the Free Market Foundation, which he helped to found. From February 2015 until 2018, he served as an independent Member of Parliament in Hungary, after he won a by-election, thereby depriving the Fidesz party of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán of its two thirds supermajority.

In this eighth episode of the Brussels Report podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with him:

- The rule of law situation in Hungary

- Hungary’s relationship with China and Russia

- The influence of the EU and other European governments

- The economic challenges for Hungary

Fabian Wintersberger is an Austrian economist and rates trader, working in the financial sector. He also maintains a blog and twitter account where he comments the developments on financial markets, economics and politics. He is also the author of several comments on BrusselsReport.eu.

In this seventh episode of the Brussels Report Podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with him:

- The prospects for deflation and inflation

- The effect of higher interest rates on the cohesion of the Eurozone

- The “zombification” of the economy

- Comparing Japan’s economic development with that in the Eurozone and the U.S.

Fredrik Erixon is a Swedish economist and writer. He has been the Director of EU trade and economic policy think tank European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) ever since its start in 2006. The Financial Times has ranked Erixon as one of the 30 most influential people in Brussels.

In this sixth episode of the Brussels Report Podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with him:

- EU "industrial" policy: what are the latest developments? Is the EU going in the wrong direction?

- EU trade success: what are the next big hurdles?

- The proposed EU  Digital Services Act (DSA) and  Digital Markets Act (DMA) and overall EU regulatory performance: Is the "better regulation" agenda dead at the EU level? Or is there still a lot of support for entrepreneurship-friendly regulation both in the EC and in national capitals?

- The EU after Brexit: how to save it from going the wrong way?

Sajjad Karim is a British politician and solicitor, who served as a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for the North West England between 2004 and 2019. He is a member of the executive board of European Movement UK and the Chair of Conservative European Forum Trade.

In this fifth episode of the Brussels Report Podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with him:

- how to soften trade restrictions and extra bureaucracy resulting from the brexit trade deal agreed between the EU and the UK, not only when it comes to the checks the UK has promised to impose on goods traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but also when it comes to financial services and data

- how should the long term relationship between Britain and the EU evolve: should Britain join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)? Is it feasible for Britain to rejoin the EU one day? And for that to happen, how should the EU change?

- how should Western Europe deal with large-scale immigration and the challenges it brings, despite the benefits?

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Carl Baudenbacher was the President of the EFTA Court between 2003 and 2017, where he served as a judge from 1995 to 2018. Nowadays, he is an independent consultant and arbitrator as well as a senior partner in a Zurich law firm. He is a Swiss national.

In this fourth episode of the Brussels Report Podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with this eminent legal scholar the EU-Swiss relationship and what is the way forward (the podcast was recorded just before EU-Swiss negotiations on a new "Framework Agreement" failed), the EU-UK trade deal, the role of the European Court of Justice, the future of EFTA-EEA and the "Icesave" ruling by the EFTA Court in 2013, something which goes to the heart of fractional reserve banking.

Bojan Pancevski is the Germany Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, based in Berlin. He is a native of North Macedonia. Before writing for the WSJ, he was covering Europe at large as The Sunday Times' EU Correspondent in Brussels, from 2009 on. Previously, he was based for the same newspaper in Vienna and Berlin, covering Central and Eastern Europe. He also is a book author and has been selected for the 2016 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘The FIFA scandal’.

He has extensively focused on EU affairs, European politics and diplomacy, migration, terrorism and German politics.

In this third episode of the Brussels Report Podcast, BrusselsReport.eu editor Pieter Cleppe discusses with him the European Commission's track record on vaccine procurement, what to expect from Germany’s parliamentary election later this year and the effect on Germany’s EU policies as well as the political situation in Central and Eastern Europe.